Hemant Pawar is a seasoned IT Program Director residing in the bustling San Francisco Bay Area of California. He spearheads critical initiatives for the third-largest healthcare organization in the United States, leveraging his extensive experience in managing large, cross-functional teams. With a background in computer engineering and a global perspective gained from working as an expatriate in five countries, Hemant established his home in the US in 2016, where he continues to drive innovation in healthcare IT.
Here’s some of the topics we covered:
- Beginning In Multifamily
- Getting Your First Deal Done
- Syndication
- Joint Ventures
- Giving Back To The Community
- Big Epiphanies That Calm Beginner Fear
To find out more about partnering or investing in a multifamily deal: Text Partner to 72345 or email Partner@RodKhleif.com
Full Transcript Below
Intro
Hi. My name is Rod Khleif and I’m the host of “The Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing” podcast. And every week, I interview Multifamily Rock Stars and we talk about how they built incredible wealth for themselves and their families through multifamily properties. So hit the “Like” and “Subscribe” buttons to get notified every Monday when a new episode comes out. Let’s get to it.
Rod
Welcome back to Multifamily Rock Stars. Now, this is where we interview people that are crushing it inside this business that we love, multifamily real estate investing. We show you guys the inside scoop, how these multifamily investors are creating massive success not just in their businesses, but also in their lives. And I’m really excited about today’s guest, and you’ll find out why in just a minute. But before I get into that, as always, I’ve got my co-host, who is the director of our massive action team for the Warrior Group, Mark Nagy on the call. Mark, what’s happening, brother?
Mark
Yeah, I got to say the same thing. I know this man today has dropped some awesome knowledge bombs at our recent Orlando boot camp up on stage. And so I’m sure he’s going to drop some more today for the listeners.
Rod
No question. I’m going to tell you. Well, we’ll get into it. I’ll do it through questioning. But there’s just something extraordinary that I wasn’t aware of that he’s doing in his life that just is incredible. But, Hemant, welcome, my friend. Welcome to the show.
Hemant
Thank you, Rod. Thank you, Mark. My pleasure and absolutely an honor to be on this podcast. Thank you so much.
Rod
Thank you. And just to give a little more framework, so, Hemant, you joined our Warrior program when?
Hemant
June 16th of last year, 2021.
Rod
June 16th of last year. So a little over six months ago. And you are now in 406 units that you’ve done since then in six deals, three in joint ventures, three as a GP in syndications. That’s just extraordinary, my friend. I got to tell you, just extraordinary. But why don’t you go back and tell us a little bit of your story and your background as well? So please, you take it away, my friend.
Hemant
Sure. Thank you, Rod. So I arrived in the US in 2016 with my ex-wife. A typical immigrant story. I got a great job here. I was traveling over Europe a couple of years before that and stayed in different countries. I’m a program director with the Healthcare IT company here in California. And like everyone you know, I had this dream of retiring early, trying to spend more time in something that I love. Not that I don’t love my W2 job, but you know, there are other interests that I would love to pursue. And it was in March of 2021 when I first came to know the concept of cash flow in real estate. I had no background. I had not invested a single penny in real estate here. When I came to know that concept, it just blew my mind. And then I started consuming the articles, the podcast, and the first step you know, I thought, okay, maybe I could just take 20 duplexes, and that’s it, you know. I’ll have enough cash flow to replace my income and, you know, retire early. And it was quite a good coincidence. In May of that year, I saw your interview with the Bigger Pockets team in Denver, and that was my first eye-opening in real estate. It’s not just about cash flow, it’s about how fast you can scale and what kind of relationships you form that will take you longer, further. That was my first you know, I would say, the turning point of my real estate journey. May of last year, I joined your virtual boot camp, in June, I decided to join the Warrior program.
Rod
By the way, sorry. I’m so sorry to interrupt you, my friend, when you said virtual boot camp just triggered. Guys, that’s coming up. March 12th and 13th, our next event is. And you got some value out of that Hemant?
Hemant
Absolutely. I think the relationship that I formed, the education that I got, and the coaching that I got is key. The foundation that got laid is key to my success so far.
Rod
That’s fantastic. Yeah. So again, guys, it’s coming up on March 12th and 13th. I mean, right now, the tickets, are a whopping $97 for 16 to 18 hours of training with nothing being sold. Kind of a no-brainer. So if you’re interested, go to multifamilyvirtualbootcamp.com or text “RODLIVE” as one word to “72345”. Again, that’s “RODLIVE” as one word to “72345” and you can come. But anyway, sorry to interrupt. So you joined the Warrior program in June, and boom, here we are seven months later, and you’ve already in six deals. So I guess the first question I’ve got for you is you took the whole massive action conversation that I have to a whole another level. Talk about that a little bit.
Hemant
Well, two things that you know, I think that worked in my favor. One, I’m pretty bold when taking decisions. You know, I’m a risk taker. I’ve always been a risk taker. Last year, the market turned in such a way that unless you took a risk, you are not able to move ahead, right. I took calculated risks. Join hands with the right people, doing deals in the locations that I was interested in. And at the same time, I made sure that I reviewed my strategy month by month. And the reason I’m saying this is a lot of people join looking at success stories, and they are great, and they’re very inspiring. But you also have to look at the market dynamics and how they are changing. Take a 10,000 level view as to how it’s going. Where do you fit in? What activities can you do to take you further down your goal? Now, if I say I can get enough cash flow to retire within a year, well, that’s not the fact of the market right now because the cap rates have come down so quickly. Right. But what can happen is there are other things that I can build on. I can build that foundation, I can build that framework, those relationships which will be extremely necessary. When the time comes for that big leap, I will be ready. So I had to restrategize. I had to take a look at my actions and my plan monthly, review them, talk to my coach, talk to my peers, my, you know, senior colleagues, and take my next steps. So, that was key.
Rod
Fantastic. Now, you know, we know this business is a team sport. What components of the multifamily business did you bring to the people you did your deals with? I don’t know if you did them all with warriors or some with warriors or how you did it, but maybe you can speak to that as well. But what did you bring to that dynamic?
Hemant
Most of the deals are with warriors. Some are from other groups, but warriors– I joined hands with warriors to make sure that we have enough presence in these deals, in this team so we could work together to make it a success. Some are joint ventures, some are syndications. Now, when I started, you know, I thought, okay, I’ll buy a couple of Multifamily 10, 12, just–and joint ventures and move fast. What I realized was there are not enough deals in this crazy market that we’re giving the kind of returns with respect to the effort that I was putting in, whether it is joint ventures or, you know buying personal property, personal multifamily. And that’s when I realized that syndications are one of the areas that I had not looked so carefully. And it so happened that when I was in that thought process, someone asked me, hey, would you like to join our team and you know, raise capital? Because that’s where we are facing issues right now. I had never given a thought to capital raise. I kind of asked around. I spoke to my coach and I realized that many people tried it for the first time. And that was when I decided, okay, let me try with friends and family, see how it goes. I can tell you, Rod, the first five people I spoke to, as soon as they said yes, I knew I would raise a million dollars in the next three to four weeks because it’s conveying the message, the communication has to go through, you know, not just as an education, but you having an interest in their personal growth in some investment that they are choosing with you. Right.
Rod
Of course.
Hemant
It was an education to let them know about multifamily. It was an education to share some success stories, how I showed them somebody retiring from a W2, what they do in multifamily to increase value. What kind of success stories are there out there in the market? And what is the minimum, when I say minimum because, in Silicon Valley, there are many people who have 500K in the bank just lying there, right? And most of them they’re investing in a stock.
Rod
Right.
Hemant
And that repeatable value that your 50K will bring in syndication. So it took me like 20 to 30 days to go through that story. And at the end of the 38th day, I put two deals in front of them. One was the one which I was doing. The second one was somebody else’s. And all of them invested in the one that I was doing.
Rod
Nice.
Hemant
That was like the third, you know, spark, you know.
Rod
Epiphany. Really an epiphany. That’s one of the questions I asked. It really was an epiphany for you were like, holy cow, I can do this. Now, so you educate them first, then you really warm them, obviously. You let them know what it is and you allow them to see what’s possible. Am I articulating that correctly? You allow them to see what’s possible. By the way, guys, and I know you know this, Hemant because we train this extensively. You cannot just raise money. You have to be involved in other aspects of the deal. So let me ask you back to that question. Were you doing the underwriting? Were you doing the asset management? All the above. What roles are you playing in those two deals?
Hemant
Right. And thanks for mentioning this Rod, because I was well aware that I cannot be just doing capital rate.
Rod
Right.
Hemant
But the strategy I applied was I said, hey, you know, I could go up to say a million dollars. When I surpassed that and I had my soft commits, almost hard commits with me. I sat down with the team and I said, hey, I would love to be part of the asset management, too, now that I have because that’s my next goal, to learn something about the business. And that’s how I got into asset management. I also handle some of the investor relations and the presentations that we do for our investors.
Rod
Fantastic, fantastic. I’m actually, just wrote an asset management book that I’m going to put out there for you guys for free, by the way. I give my books away for free, and it’s getting graphics put in it right now. So I’m really excited about it. It’s a really quality product. But, anyway.
Mark
And real quick. You might touch on a golden nugget there, glossed over it pretty quickly. But you mentioned you educated people, but you also talked about how it’s going to help them reach financial freedom and what their goals are. And that’s key because it’s easy to go out and raise money and think, oh, how can I get money from these people to help me for my deal? But you came from the perspective of how can I help them reach their goals? And that’s obviously what helped you create success there. But for you, what was it like? What are some of the key differences between those seven, eight-unit, JV deals and 100 plus unit syndications? What was it like taking that jump?
Hemant
Well, the first mind shift when it happened from duplexes to multifamily, you know, to commercial real estate, I think that was the time when I realized, hey, I don’t want that landlord mindset. I wouldn’t be calling my property managers if something’s leaking, something. You know, I don’t get that much time. I have a W2 job. You know, I know that 40 hours a week, I will be busy, extremely busy on something. I don’t have family, kids. The rest of the time, I would be focusing on my real estate. What are the activities, what’s the 20% that will do 80% of the things? That’s what I started focusing on. And that’s one of the reasons I realized that going larger sooner, that would be my first step. I don’t say no to joint ventures. I don’t say no to smaller deals, too, because sometimes you get a gem where it’s direct to the seller. You have a 10, 12 unit, great cash flowing deal. I join hands. That’s what I’ve done with some warriors. I join hands in different States, and I have taken down some joint ventures, too. But that doesn’t stop me from looking at, you know, the efficiency, the productivity that a big deal can bring to your daily life, especially in your W2 job. I do respect and I do admire people you know, go out, implement their infrastructure. Where you have your podcast, you have your email, or you have your website sending out reminders. But what I realized was my ability to work one-to-one with the people that are around me here. It could be social circle, friends and family, whoever. I decided to focus on that base of the first 20 investors who will bring in the next 20 and so on and so forth. So that was my strategy right from the day I started working in syndication and all the money that has all the capital that I have raised in the last three syndications, it’s all been, close friends, their friends, their friends, their friends.
Rod
Wow. So you build a really close relationship then. You spend more time probably than an average operator with your investors you know, really getting them acclimated and excited so that they’re actually helping you raise more money. That’s fantastic. That’s a fantastic strategy. A lot of people, like you said, they’ll start a podcast like me, or they’ll do a Facebook group or LinkedIn profile or YouTube channel or meet up group or whatever to create reach to raise money. You just did it one on one, being more intimate and more, you know, involved. So you know these people very well, and they know you very well. I love it. And that’s fantastic. By the way, you know, I want to shift to something because when I read this, I had no idea you were doing this, Hemant. You know, I know you went through a horrible divorce in 2016. I went through one. I have that memo as well. It’s one of the worst times of my life, and you bounced back from it. But would you please tell us what you did in a charitable, you know, philanthropically, because it just blows me away. Guys, before you speak, I don’t know what it is about my warriors, but I seem to attract people that give and want to make the world a better place. And you are. Please tell them what you’re doing. It just blows me away.
Hemant
Yeah, I think this is the first time sharing on a public platform. I haven’t shared this. Even most of our family doesn’t know about it. But when I was in that horrible phase, a coincidence, I was sitting at the airport meeting my cousin who manages the airport, she’s the controller of the airport. And I saw that this family who was detained as part of human trafficking, sex trafficking ring. And I saw that family, I was just looking at them. And I saw that two of the girls who started praying in that detention room. And I spoke to my cousin, I spoke to the social service worker there. And I realized that it’s a big problem in these developing nations. I understood the infrastructure or the kind of help they need, but I also understood that just by giving something to a charity, yes, it does go a long way, but there’s no follow-through. You don’t know, you know, where these people land a few years down the line just by getting money. So I decided to kind of have an individual, one-to-one adoption you know, scenario with them. Where I adopted that family, I invested in the education. We put the girls back into College. Two of the girls are now married, one already has a kid. We bought houses for them. We also help them build a business, cosmetics, and clothing business back in their country. And these girls are now– they have recruited 12 more girls like them to work in their shop. So that completely changed my perspective of, you know, how I want to lead. You know, don’t fret about little things. The world is so big. There are so many people who would do with a little bit of care and, you know, some kind of contribution. At the same time because I have the nature of you know, more personal touch, I just went ahead and made sure that I followed through and whatever contributions were from my side, they reached their ultimate goal. To make themselves sufficient and make the difference.
Rod
You’ve now adopted seven families and you gave 90% of your wealth to doing this. That’s just unbelievable to me. And guys, I always want to shout out to Hemant here because, you know, 90% of your wealth to taking care of these 24 girls now is just extraordinary, buddy. And I just salute you. And I can’t tell you how impressive that is. And I wanted to give that the energy it deserves because that is just incredible. Now they run their own small-scale business that employs girls that were–I mean, just incredible what you’ve created. And so guys, you know, you’ve heard me say it. We have two hands. One to lift ourselves up and one to lift other people up underneath us. And Hemant, you are a shining example of that incredible. Just incredible.
Hemant
Thank you so much. And that is my biggest why, by the way.
Rod
Power moves to those who serve. You know, the fact that you give back and that’s why so many of you know, you’re an incredible example of so many of the Warriors that do things like this. It’s just amazing, buddy. I’m just truly amazing. Go ahead, Mark.
Mark
Yeah. I mean, I was going to ask, do you think you’d be where you’re at today if you didn’t have that mission and purpose?
Hemant
Well, that’s a good question. You know, I would be very much, you now, satisfied with a job, with a small group of people, you know, spending my time away on Netflix or Bars or you know, dating apps or whatever. But the happiness that this thing gave me and still gives me, you know, it’s unparalleled. I think that was my biggest shift in life. And you know, real estate is a means to, you know, provide more to that side of things.
Rod
Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Well, listen, you know, we got a lot and I’m going to shift gears. We’re going to shift back to real estate because you know, that’s why we’re here. But, you know, we get a lot of people listening to the show that haven’t taken action. They’re aspiring to do this business. They’re in W2, they may or may not be happy with that. Very often they’re not. And they want more. They want freedom. What words of wisdom would you give someone that was like you back in February of last year, for example, and maybe not quite like you, but you know what I’m trying to say here? What sort of advice would you give an aspiring multifamily investor?
Hemant
Sure. I think the first step is to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Many times we kind of assume these are strengths and weaknesses, but it’s always good to take feedback, talked to many, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and work to your strengths right now, that’s the first advice I’ll give. The second advice is try to build relationships and get into a partnership sooner than later. You know, yes, you can go into it alone, but you can go much further with the partnerships. The kind of locations I had targeted if I had kept that in mind, I would have never done a single deal.
Rod
Right.
Hemant
It was only when I found some partners in our warriors’ meet-up in Sarasota, and I realized, hey, there are wonderful people doing wonderful things in locations which are not my target market, but good locations. And why don’t I focus that, you know, through those discussions, I found my partners, I found some great deals. My joint ventures are doing quite profitably. And that’s the second thing I would definitely share. That partnership is the key. And the third thing is, you know, it’s okay to restrategize. It’s okay to take a step back. It’s okay to change course or pivot from your earlier plan. Your goal stays the same. If you are here for the long term, your goals will always stay the same. But having that ability to pivot as per the market, as per your ability to close deals, as per the success that you are receiving I think, it’s you know, be flexible. That’s the third thing I would say.
Rod
Be flexible. No, I love it. I love it. Now, I want to circle back to something you said because you came to our warrior-only event in Sarasota. When was that? Was that–?
Hemant
September.
Rod
September. And you met now people that are partners and joint venture partners and syndication partners. And guys, we do these warrior-only events. We’ve got one coming up on April 1st and 2nd. But even if you can’t join my warrior program, get into a group where you can share notes and compare notes and build relationships and build partnerships. By the way, if you are interested in the warrior group, text– to apply, you have to text “CRUSH”, the word crush, so we can help you crush it in this business to “72345”. Again, text the word “CRUSH” to “72345”. And we’ll see if you’re a fit. And you can see if we’re a fit.
Mark
Yeah. So on that topic, you’re in California, same as me. Northern California. Obviously, all your deals are outside of California. I see Tennessee, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas. A lot of people we get are in, you know, New York, New Jersey, those you know, kind of tougher blue States that are just not the best to invest in real estate. Obviously, we all know that. What’s the dynamic with the other warriors doing those deals in other States? Is it, you know, they’re the boots on the ground, they find a deal, and maybe you raise the money, the underwriting. What’s the dynamic with you and those relationships?
Hemant
Well, right now, most of the deals, the partners are boots on the ground or who bring the deal to the table. On all the deals that I have, my role, number one, capital raise. Number one, putting the deal together because I realized that’s a skill set that I gained very early, maybe because of my W2 job where I am managing hundreds of people. Or it could be, you know, it’s just my personality where I bring people together. We discuss the hard issues. I’m the one who asks hard questions, making sure that right from day one, we are on a smooth track to close the deal and carry it further. So I bring in the capital, I structure the deal, and, you know, I also help asset managers.
Rod
I’m sure you’re involved in the due diligence as well, yes?
Hemant
Yes.
Rod
Okay. So you do the due diligence, and now, then you do the asset management after the fact, so you’re involved in almost every phase.
Hemant
Yes.
Rod
Fantastic.
Hemant
And I think that’s the last pivot that happened that I took last month where I said I’ve come this far, I have these assets, syndication, joint ventures. I have some great partners that I’m working with. Capital raise is something that came to me naturally. Asset management, I have made some headway. Let me now you know, I won’t say an expert, but let me learn more. Let me sort of solidify that foundation. Maybe six months down the line, you know, I can take down a 300 unit syndication on my own and I can form a team on my own because, you know, I have gone end to end through this. I have listened to my senior partners. I have worked with them. So that’s the third pivot that I took. You know, I kind of take a break, see what you have established, solidify the foundation with what you have, and then take the next jump. That’s my–
Rod
Nice.
Mark
Beautiful. So to everybody who has listened through this whole episode now and heard this entire– this amazing story, Hemant, what actions would you recommend that that listener takes right now, today, to implement what we talked about on this episode?
Hemant
The only action is, you know, whether it’s eight-unit or 800-unit, if you’re waiting forever, you know, any deal, do one deal, take it end-to-end, form those partnerships. Talk to the lawyers, talk to the brokers, see how the property management reports look like. Run through the value add plan, you know, execute that plan. It doesn’t matter–you know, many times I speak to people, and, you know, some of the people I spoke to, they are waiting for a class B, 200 units in Florida forever.
Rod
Right.
Hemant
And you know, I would say, your first deal gives you that energy, that confidence, that inspiration that will take you much, much further than just by, you know, waiting on something. That’s the only–
Rod
Fantastic advice. You know, there’s that law of the first deal. It’s the scariest. It takes the longest. It’s the most stressful. And you guys have heard me say it on the show here once I see it in my students, my Warriors, all the time, they do one and they’re complaining because they haven’t got one. Maybe they didn’t move as quickly as you did, or maybe they’re six to eight months and they haven’t done a deal yet. And then they get one. And the next thing I know, six months later, they have six like you did in the first six months. But that first deal, you just got to get past that first deal. And that’s fantastic advice. Well, listen, my friend, you’ve added a ton of value, and I’m just so freaking impressed with what you’re doing with your money. I can’t even tell you. And that’s the reason you’re successful. That’s just it. There is no question. I don’t care if you believe in God or not, what you give you get back, times 1000. And, so, you know, forget the money, the financial side. You’ve grown financially in a huge way, but you’ve also grown spiritually as a human being and you’ve got that incredible fulfillment that you get from doing what you do. So I really salute you, buddy. And I really appreciate you coming on the show. And like I said, guys if you want to check into the Warrior program, this is what happens there. So, you know, if you’re serious about this business, you should give it a look over, seriously. But Hemant, thank you for coming on, my friend. Great to see you, buddy.
Mark
Hemant, Thank you.
Hemant
Thank you, Rod. Thank you, Mark. Thank you.
Outro
Rod, I know a lot of our listeners are wanting to take their multifamily investing business to the next level. Now, I know you’ve been hard at work helping our warrior students do just that using our “ACT” methodology which is Awareness, Close, and Transform. Can you explain to the listeners how they can get our help?
Rod
You bet. Guys, we’ve been going nonstop for three years building an amazing community of like-minded people, and our coaching students which we call our warriors, have had extraordinary results. They’ve purchased thousands and thousands of units and last year we did over 1000 units with our students. And we’re looking to grow this group and take it to the next level. We’re looking for people who want to follow a proven framework that’s really step by step and then leverage our systems and network to raise equity, to find and close deals, and to build partnerships nationwide. Now, our warrior community is finding success in any market cycle. So if you’re interested in finding out more about how you can become more of our incredible network and take advantage of the incredible opportunities that are coming very soon, apply to work with us at “MentorWithRod.com” or text “CRUSH” to “72345” and we’ll set up a call so you can check us out and we can check you out. That’s “MentorWithRod.com” or text “CRUSH” to “72345”.
