Atif Gul is a seasoned software engineer with a 25-year career at tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Uber. Transitioning to real estate, he now owns 900 commercial multifamily units and manages assets worth $100 million. With a strategic focus on acquisitions, operations, and capital raising, Atif blends tech expertise with real estate savvy to offer investors high returns and passive income opportunities across diverse sectors including commercial real estate, multifamily properties, and more.
Here’s some of the topics we covered:
- From Code to Cash Flow 00:00
- The Regatta Property Breakdown 6:27
- The Financial Blueprint of the Deal 9:34
- Boosting Property Value 10:45
- Multifamily Security & Lighting 15:39
- Property Managers & Management Companies 17:39
- How To Raise Millions For A Multifamily Deal 24:05
- A Characteristic That Every Investor Must Have 31:09
If you’d like to apply to the warrior program and do deals with other rockstars in this business: Text crush to 72345 and we’ll be speaking soon.
Full Transcript Below:
00:00:42:04 – 00:01:02:24
Rod
Welcome back to Multifamily Rockstars. Now these episodes, as you guys know, is where we do a much more deeper dive into specific guest deals versus just like an overview and whatnot. And we really give you some actionable and certainly practical items, to get started and do your first deal, especially if you’re brand new, to this multifamily game.
00:01:03:05 – 00:01:05:20
Rod
And I’ve got my co-host, Mark Nagy, with me here, as usual.
00:01:05:20 – 00:01:14:12
Mark
Good to be here, rod. I’m, I know I say this every week, but I’m excited for this one. 900 units in eight months. So. Yeah. Good conversation.
00:01:14:14 – 00:01:32:08
Rod
He’s killing it. Well, I happen to know him quite well. And you’ll find out why here in a little bit, but, his name is Latif Ghoul. And, former are still seasoned software engineer for 25 years. Has worked at big companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Uber. And, Welcome, buddy. Good to see you.
00:01:32:11 – 00:01:35:02
Atif
Thank you so much, rod. It’s honored to be on the show.
00:01:35:03 – 00:01:42:08
Rod
I remember, I think the last time I saw you, we were having lunch or something at the airport in San Antonio. Is that right at the airport?
00:01:42:08 – 00:01:43:00
Atif
Yeah, absolutely.
00:01:43:00 – 00:01:58:22
Rod
Yeah. Well, you’re going to find out why we were having lunch at the airport in San Antonio here in a little bit, but, Tiff, why don’t you tell the listeners your story? you know, where you started and why real estate? and, kind of bring us, bring us current in your own words.
00:01:58:23 – 00:02:23:06
Atif
So my name is artificial. I’m, software engineer for the last 25 years. Very good. Stable W-2 job. year and half ago, I was bit frustrated because, the job is good, but, it is very demanding. it’s hard to maintain the work life balance. So I was trying to look into, how to generate passive income and how to achieve financial independence.
00:02:23:08 – 00:02:47:01
Atif
So to my frustration, I, and I have, good networks and good investments, but, there is no path towards, financial independence. So I went on a quest to learn about, how to generate passive income. It took me about a year where I invested a lot of time and money into educating myself how people generate passive income.
00:02:47:07 – 00:03:12:06
Atif
During that quest, I came across multiple different avenues and everything didn’t work out as, my stage of life. But this multifamily that was aligned with my goal and, I started getting looking into more and more into multifamily. That was very fascinating. And then last year I decided to take an action and, learn a little bit more.
00:03:12:06 – 00:03:38:02
Atif
I came across Robert over the social media. He was a big inspiration. and I thought that I should join the warrior program he’s running. So I began the part of the program, so that, whole experience joining the program, it was, mind blowing. there was a whole roll of information over there. there was, big network, which was very supportive.
00:03:38:05 – 00:04:01:04
Atif
People were very helpful, very open. And the program was structured in a way that, it pushes you to take action. So, but, the real story started. I was in the program for about six months. I learned a lot of different things. I worked on, multifamily, and, it was all theoretical knowledge.
00:04:01:06 – 00:04:27:10
Atif
I had a great coach. He was, my mentor, and I was working with him, so everything was good, and I remember, last year, Thanksgiving, 2023, Thanksgiving. I was just sitting around, and I was just, looking back to where I am. And I felt confident that, I have a lot of information on the multi family space, how to do underwriting, how to source deal, how to raise capital.
00:04:27:10 – 00:04:56:00
Atif
Everything’s there. But it was all technical knowledge, nothing practical. So that day I decided to take action. And my action was very simple. It was start talking to people, start talking to everyone and anyone. So that was my resolution on that day. And, I just, acted upon that. And within that value program, whoever, I could connect with, I started talking to them.
00:04:56:03 – 00:05:25:20
Atif
I started talking to my social network. just telling them about, multifamily space, what I’m doing, and, what, kind of path it is towards financial independence. So I just start talking and then, fast forward, eight months, I, GP in 900 units, the assets under management are roughly 100 million.
00:05:25:22 – 00:05:27:13
Atif
So here I am.
00:05:27:13 – 00:05:46:00
Rod
Boom, baby. Well, listen how I know Atif. Tiff. Sorry I mispronounced it earlier, too. is, he is a, coach. JP, in my, latest San Antonio asset, he came in, joined us in the due diligence and and raised, how much did you raise for that deal?
00:05:46:00 – 00:05:47:15
Atif
I left you 1.2 million.
00:05:47:17 – 00:06:05:15
Rod
1.2 million you raised. And I assume from your network of people in the I.T. space, you’ve got connections through. And this is, you know, a lot of people, from the ICT space, actually do very, very well in this business because not only of the analytical which you need to be or at least have someone on the team be, but, you know, it’s a lot of money in that space.
00:06:05:15 – 00:06:26:23
Rod
So, but anyway, that’s, that’s the regatta, regatta apartment homes community that we closed on, a few weeks ago. And it’s, the reposition is well underway, but why don’t we go ahead and talk about that deal so you can describe the deal in your words? so talk about how many units it is and just give us kind of an overview on the deal.
00:06:26:23 – 00:06:28:03
Rod
Auto.
00:06:28:05 – 00:06:53:16
Atif
Sure. It was an amazing deal. It was, distressed asset. the, previous owner haven’t, put any money for last two years, so there was a lot of deferred maintenance. it came on the market, Greek capital, which you already owned. Another, asset on the same street. so that was in the neighborhood. And that’s how, we came to know about this, property.
00:06:53:16 – 00:06:53:20
Atif
Yeah.
00:06:53:20 – 00:07:11:07
Rod
No, I was actually there. I’ll tell you how we came to know about it. I was there doing a surprise visit on the other asset, which is just over a mile down the road, because I love to watch the blood drain from the employees faces when I walk in the door. I’m kidding. But. But but, And then while I was there, one of the other partners said, hey, there’s a deal down the street you need to go look at.
00:07:11:08 – 00:07:14:10
Rod
So I went and looked at it. And anyway, please continue. Yeah.
00:07:14:12 – 00:07:32:02
Atif
Yeah. So it’s a 200 unit, asset, and, we got it for $100,000, which is amazing price in that market because, a couple of other properties which sold recently, those both of those went for more than 130 K a door.
00:07:32:04 – 00:07:38:04
Rod
So yeah, one was one, 137 right next door, 137,000 a door. And we got ours for 100. Yeah.
00:07:38:04 – 00:08:06:10
Atif
So this property is a unique, it have, lakefront at the back of the property and, beautiful neighborhood. it’s a class B property, but, you can see the neighborhood is kind of, b plus r close to a neighborhood. So that is, with the properties located. we did a good due diligence, with the team, road was also there, and the other guys were also there.
00:08:06:16 – 00:08:37:21
Atif
We, kind of went into each and every unit. there’s a 200 unit property. So, we brought in inspectors, we with the team, we just, look at the exterior. Look at the interior. We know. Done almost each and everything would need to be fixed on the property. So that was a great, amazing experience working with rod, because this was my first time, doing, walkthrough of a property.
00:08:38:01 – 00:08:43:13
Atif
So I learned a lot of new things during that, visit.
00:08:43:15 – 00:09:00:10
Rod
let me, let me let me add something here, you know, so, so, guys, you know, I’m in thousands of units, and I will tell you, the bulk of them were either brought to me from from warriors. This actually was brought to a from another warrior that was involved in the other San Antonio deal. And I have partnered with Warriors on every single deal that I’ve done.
00:09:00:10 – 00:09:14:09
Rod
So that’s, you know, one of the benefits, I mean, I’m not gonna say it’s a huge benefit, but but it is, I suppose that you can actually partner with me on deals, as I did on this deal. So, you know, you were you said it’s lakefront. Yeah. There’s 38 units that are on the lake, which is extraordinary.
00:09:14:09 – 00:09:33:03
Rod
And then, right across the street on the other side is a golf course. I mean, you couldn’t have a better situation, you know, around a property. A lot of national retailers, like you said, great area. and, just needed some love. The property needs some love. So talk about we’ll talk about the financial side of it. because that’s pretty exciting too.
00:09:33:05 – 00:09:50:10
Atif
So, the deal was roughly 100,000 a door and, amazing thing is that, we assumed, 13 million loan at, 3.2% interest rate.
00:09:50:12 – 00:09:55:15
Rod
Yeah. So we assumed that we assumed the loan, which is fantastic. Seven years left on it. Two. Yeah.
00:09:55:17 – 00:10:25:07
Atif
Yes. And, we allocated roughly 3.7 million in CapEx budget. And, based on our underwriting, we projected, 6 to 8% cash and cash, 7% preferred return and 15 to 17% accurate. So this is a great deal in this current market market situation. So those are the amazing, returns for investors. It was a kind of a win win for everyone.
00:10:25:09 – 00:10:36:10
Atif
Bank was happy they wanted to get rid of the property. So they let us, assume the loan. And, we were able to, promise these kind of returns to our investors.
00:10:36:12 – 00:10:42:04
Rod
And very conservatively, I might add, you know, I call this thing a unicorn because this the first one we bought in 18 months.
00:10:42:07 – 00:10:56:16
Mark
So what are some of the things you’re doing to get that value? because I see a list here and I see some kind of unique things, like I see a pickleball court, which you don’t see very often on these sorts of deals. Well, what are the the things that you guys are doing to increase the value and get it to where it needs to be?
00:10:56:18 – 00:11:23:11
Atif
Yes. So that was, also, outcome of our, walk, through the property. during our due diligence, we, we did, very interesting things. one of the things which I definitely want to mention is that, we went to visit, neighboring property. We just walk into those properties, we said, hey, we want to, see, what your units are and, how much those are going for.
00:11:23:14 – 00:11:50:17
Atif
So we, did a walk through of their units just to compare that where our property is and how we compare against our competition. So that was a great exercise. And, we figured it out. They have a good exterior, but interior, it was just average interior. And, we could, renovate our units better than that and bring a lot of value into it.
00:11:50:19 – 00:12:03:17
Rod
one other thing about these units, which is extraordinary, is every single one of them has a fireplace. Every single one of them has washer dryer hookups. so, you know, and again, a bunch of lakefront, please continue.
00:12:03:17 – 00:12:32:00
Atif
So we figured it out that, they it has a lot of different maintenance, so, it need exterior painting across all ten buildings in the property. there were some buildings which had, recently siding fixed, but, bunch of other buildings need some siding work. So we estimated all of that. we plan to renovate all 200 units with nice appliances, nice flooring and,
00:12:32:02 – 00:12:53:11
Rod
Light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, blinds, you know, just really make them look good. In fact, we refocused the surfaces on the fireplaces with new tile, which looks fantastic. and, Yeah. And by the way, we’re actually fixing siding on all the buildings. It wasn’t some of them. It turned out that all the buildings had some siding that need to be replaced, and they’re well into it and it’s being repainted.
00:12:53:11 – 00:13:08:11
Rod
It’s beautiful. The repaint is beautiful. it’s it’s moving along very, very quickly. I think we’re we’re, redoing the next 20 units. We’ve already done 20. Yeah. Fast. Yeah. So they’re well into it, you know, so. Sure.
00:13:08:14 – 00:13:23:24
Atif
So the other things which we identify was re surfacing the parking lot, adding a gym and pickleball courts. So this is interesting. They had a tennis court which was not maintained and it was shut down. So we figured it out.
00:13:24:00 – 00:13:33:18
Rod
Terrible. It like to look terrible too. When I drove up the first time that that the net was like hanging. Just like it was just it just looked deplorable. yeah. So yeah.
00:13:33:20 – 00:13:45:22
Atif
Yeah. So nowadays pickleball is, becoming more and more popular. So we thought that we can, repurpose that, a tennis court into a pickleball courts so that is, what we took.
00:13:45:22 – 00:13:47:23
Rod
To to actually, we’re going to put two in there. Yeah.
00:13:48:00 – 00:13:56:13
Atif
Yes. So we were going to make two courts. Two pickleball courts. we are also, improving the pool. We are adding in.
00:13:56:14 – 00:14:13:21
Rod
Well, let’s go back to the fitness center for a second. So when we got there, they they had eliminated the fitness center. There was like a conference room. There was storage. It was just it was stupid because people like to have fitness. And so we’re opening it all up, and, and putting in, you know, a really nice fitness center.
00:14:13:23 – 00:14:18:22
Rod
so, so anyway, just throw that in, all right. To the pool. The pool? Yeah. The pool is almost done, too.
00:14:19:01 – 00:14:28:08
Atif
Yes. Pool is almost done, too. So we’re putting a nice gazebo right next to the pool. And, we also need to do some little maintenance on the pool, too.
00:14:28:09 – 00:14:50:04
Rod
Well, we’re resurfacing the whole thing. Resurfacing the pool itself and all the concrete around it is. Is being redone. And they. And they’re well into it. I they’re supposed to be done, by by the 1st of August. so very exciting. But yes, a gazebo. we just ordered really bright, beautiful, pool furniture for it as well.
00:14:50:06 – 00:14:54:21
Rod
Yeah, I you haven’t been in that loop out, so I’m throwing a couple things in that you might not have been aware of.
00:14:54:21 – 00:14:57:19
Atif
Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah I see Amazon Locker.
00:14:57:22 – 00:14:58:21
Mark
What was it before.
00:14:59:01 – 00:15:18:13
Atif
There was no, lockers. There was a male, bottle box, which is, which was outdoors. So we are going to put, Amazon Locker, that could make, people, a lot easier for the people to pick up their, packages. before that. Yeah.
00:15:18:15 – 00:15:33:05
Rod
Like before that, they had to go to the leasing office, you know, or be left out in the porch and, and and, you know, I will tell you when you when you have a complex like that and the leasing staff has to deal with packages, it’s a real pain. They don’t have time for it. So the package lockers are a real nice improvement.
00:15:33:05 – 00:15:45:01
Rod
And it had a real decrepit laundry room there. And that laundry room, is being, is going to be where the package locker is now. And so it’ll be, it’ll be, it’ll be very, very nice and secure as well.
00:15:45:03 – 00:16:16:00
Atif
other than that, we installed security cameras across the property just to increase the security. we added a lot of lighting to brighten it up in the night. we improved, signage across the property. so those are kind of, major improvements, which we, we are already done with a few of those and, rest of those, planned, another big thing was, bringing in, very reputed management company.
00:16:16:06 – 00:16:37:05
Atif
So we brought them in previously, as they say, that, the property was distressed in the previous owner was not spending a lot of time, when the first time we went there, there was no one in that leasing office, and, property was in a bad shape. And the funny thing is that while we were working around, the property, the tenants came out, and they start asking us that.
00:16:37:05 – 00:16:58:06
Atif
Hey, looks like you’re from the, the management company. We have some request made in. What is the status of that? And, we we told them that. No, we, we’re not here for that purpose. but that shows that, how stressful is this property? And, the tenants were really frustrated with the existing management company.
00:16:58:12 – 00:17:12:15
Atif
So, we have this management company on the other property at Sedona, which is, just a mile away from this property. And, they’re doing amazing work. And, we also brought them in and to this property as well.
00:17:12:17 – 00:17:33:11
Rod
So we actually brought that we actually pulled the manager from that property over to this property and, and, promoted the assistant manager at our other property, and they’re both rock stars and, and they’re killing it. I mean, they’re just flat out killing it. Both of them are in both of these assets, and, Yeah. Christie is the new manager at Regatta, and she’s just doing a magnificent job.
00:17:33:13 – 00:17:52:20
Mark
just just real quick on that. But before we move on past that, because that’s something people don’t talk about very often. Property managers, just having those connections. I see so many nightmare stories about bad property managers just knowing people that have a great property management team at another asset, it gives you so much confidence to hire them on your next one.
00:17:52:20 – 00:18:03:04
Mark
And just doing that, it it just takes a, takes a little bit of a burden off your shoulders so you don’t have to try and guess and check which property management team is going to work. So that’s a no. Just a small little thing there. It makes a big difference.
00:18:03:09 – 00:18:18:11
Rod
Oh no it’s huge. It’s the whole enchilada candidly I mean I’ve got assets where you’ve got other management company. another one that I’ve got I, I’m not going to say where because people know which one it is. But you know, we need to change them out. There’s no question. and so it’s a, it’s a common issue.
00:18:18:13 – 00:18:41:16
Rod
and it’s tough to find good management company sometimes and really that it’s, it’s as much about the on site people as it is about the actual company that they they ended up work, they end up working for. But yeah. So, so, what do you think is your biggest area of expertise, in this business, if your superpower, as it were.
00:18:41:16 – 00:19:01:21
Atif
So when I joined the program, I distinctly remember that the in the very initial days, I started working with my coach and, he asked me that, which area you want to specialize. And I said, yeah, I ki I think I can do capital raising. I think I can do, asset management as well. I can do deal sourcing.
00:19:01:21 – 00:19:30:19
Atif
So I think I can jump into all of these, but, few months down the road, I realized that each area need its own expertise. And, you can’t, play in all of those three areas at the same time. So you need to pick one, which is your superpower, and just stick to that, because, each area, required its own dedication, its own expertise, its own different kind of network.
00:19:31:00 – 00:19:57:01
Atif
So you can’t do all three together. So, based on my background, as I come from the i.t background and, I have, a big social, circle of, high network individuals, who have a lot of money and who don’t know anything about alternative investments. mostly they invest into the stock market, and that’s the only, investment vehicle they know.
00:19:57:03 – 00:20:23:23
Atif
but stocks are not going to give them the passive income. So, that is, where I am in its unique position to educate those people about, generating passive income and bringing them, these kind of amazing deals, where they can, achieve the goals of, generating passive income, and, financial independence. So I, picked up that area and, right.
00:20:23:23 – 00:20:39:02
Atif
No, I, and sticking with, only with, fund raising, capital raising and, I’m not looking into becoming the operator and anytime soon, so right now, that is only my focus.
00:20:39:05 – 00:20:58:24
Mark
And by the way, Giorgi, who we had on, last week or a couple of weeks ago, same thing. He was, he works for Facebook. Meta. And he did the same thing connected with the high net worth individuals raising capital. So if you’re in that space in the tech world, this is a clue, guys. Multiple people are being successful doing the same thing.
00:20:59:01 – 00:21:19:09
Rod
Okay. and yes, and I’m going to put on my teacher hat just for a second and stuff knows this. But you cannot just raise money. You have to be actively involved in the deal. Like octave was there for the due diligence. He’s on the asset management calls. You know, he’s he’s he’s heavily involved. and, I think you’re involved in some of the, bid collection as well, if I recall.
00:21:19:09 – 00:21:40:02
Rod
And so, yeah, you can’t just raise money, but but if, if you, you know, if you’re in the IT space, the medical space, athlete space, business owner space, you know, you know, people that have money and and I will tell you, finding the money is going to be even harder than finding the deals in this. You know, as we head into this current economic uncertainty.
00:21:40:04 – 00:21:55:08
Rod
And so, you know, that’s a fantastic way to get ingrained with a team. And, you know, like when we bring on a new warrior, you know, we tell them, listen, if you can either find the deals or find the money, you’re going to move much faster than if you just try to, you know, slowly ease into this thing.
00:21:55:08 – 00:22:10:05
Rod
So those are the two superpowers now, by the way, if you are interested in applying to the warrior program, text the word crush to 72345. Again, that’s crush to seven, two, three, 4 or 5. So we can help you crush it in this business. So.
00:22:10:07 – 00:22:29:08
Mark
I know you’ve done other deals as well. I don’t know if it’s 2 or 3 more other deals. talk about how you got those connections as well. Were they through similar warriors or, people that you did this first deal with? Did you connect with other warriors? How did you get to, you know, your second or your third or fourth whatever.
00:22:29:08 – 00:22:30:21
Mark
So so quickly.
00:22:30:23 – 00:22:56:21
Atif
Yeah. So first of all, the starting point was the warrior program. And that was a big help. with, my initial journey, I made a lot of contacts, with the warrior program and, bunch of those people became my mentors and, so my second deal was, within the warrior, group, a couple of four years, they were doing,
00:22:56:23 – 00:23:05:08
Atif
Yeah, acquiring a property in Savannah, Georgia. So I came along and,
00:23:05:10 – 00:23:12:06
Rod
Savannah, you said Savannah, Georgia. Yes, yes, yes. Okay. Is that is that the John, John and Sam Johnson?
00:23:12:07 – 00:23:12:14
Atif
Yes.
00:23:12:14 – 00:23:16:11
Rod
Okay. I didn’t know you were in that deal. Fantastic. Okay. Yeah. They’re rockstars. Good.
00:23:16:13 – 00:23:49:14
Atif
Yes. So, So, yeah. So that was, that was a great connections. I made, in the warrior program. then, I started going to different conferences, and, made, lot of connections, on those conferences and as I said that, I decided to talk to everyone. So whoever I would meet, I would, try to connect with them and, understand what they are trying to do and learn from their journey.
00:23:49:17 – 00:23:56:08
Atif
So over the time I build, a lot of connections. And that’s how I got into other deals as well.
00:23:56:09 – 00:24:10:24
Rod
Fantastic. Good for you. Good for you. You know, what are you give us some good tips for raising money that maybe aren’t talked about a lot. on the show, if you’ve got any suggestions, if somebody wants to go out and raise money for a deal, give them some strategy.
00:24:10:24 – 00:24:32:24
Atif
First of all, that it needed some, pre-work. you can’t just really go and, start raising money. first of all, you need to start talking immediately. Start talking, create your presence. Just, start talking to everyone. Talk to your coworkers, talk to your friends, talk to your family. Talk to the next person.
00:24:33:01 – 00:24:54:09
Atif
and, see it when you take flight. Just talk to everyone, what you are doing, why you are doing it. Just start doing that thing. And the second thing is, create your presence on the social media. It would be ideal use you start a podcast and, post on your social media. Just, educate your, investors.
00:24:54:11 – 00:25:08:03
Atif
with, multi-family, space, and give them the information. what is, interesting for them because, your first job is to educate the people.
00:25:08:05 – 00:25:29:08
Rod
yeah. Let me interject some. Interject something. You said you could start a podcast. There’s just a lot of ways you can capitalize on social media. It doesn’t have to just be a podcast. You could do a meetup group, okay? You could do a LinkedIn channel. You could do a YouTube channel, you could do a Instagram page. You could do, you know, I wouldn’t suggest maybe TikTok has hasn’t been very effective, but Facebook for sure.
00:25:29:09 – 00:25:56:17
Rod
Facebook group, there’s a lot of different ways that you can create reach, not just, podcast. Just want to throw that out there. But let me give you a one more tip. And I teach this at my bootcamps, obviously. But, yeah. And we live in the greatest time on earth to create rich, good God. I mean, it’s so easy to do it as long as you’re willing to do two things, and that is add value and be consistent if you whatever vehicle you choose, if you add value and you are consistent, then you know you’ll be successful.
00:25:56:18 – 00:26:27:13
Atif
That would, let your network know that you are doing something new. And, the other thing is that it would, build your credibility that, when they see you talking about, something again and again so they would understand that you are subject matter expert, or, you know, the space and very smart. It would take a little bit time and you would see that people start coming to you to ask those questions.
00:26:27:18 – 00:26:49:14
Atif
It would be amazing that if you can start some kind of, weekly, session, either just online or in person, where, you pick up a topic and just talk about it, you’ll be amazed that, people start showing up and, but, it would take a little bit time to get there. You need to be consistent, as Robert said, that you need to be consistent.
00:26:49:16 – 00:27:14:17
Atif
So, once you had that kind of a network, and then when you have a deal, you can talk to them. people would listen to you very seriously. You can, have, webinar on the deal. You can, explain people what the deal is and, what are the specifics of this deal? So that is how you can be successful, in capital raising.
00:27:14:22 – 00:27:19:02
Atif
So these are kind of, some tips which you, it’s great.
00:27:19:04 – 00:27:42:19
Rod
and realize and realize it’s just building relationships. So that’s really that’s really the bottom line. And, and when you add value, like you say, you’re perceived as an expert, you know, sometimes you’re faking it till you make it. I know a lot of people that will do a podcast or a meetup group or some other channel, and they’ll interview experts, but by virtue of the fact that they’re interviewing the expert, they’re perceived as an expert, even if they’re doing a little fake it till you make a thing, which is okay.
00:27:42:20 – 00:27:49:14
Rod
So everybody starts. So, but you got to get started and you got to be consistent and you got to add value. That’s it. If you want to create reach.
00:27:49:16 – 00:28:00:07
Mark
Yeah. Well, that’s what I was going to ask as well. Just just so the listeners can hear it if. Did you did you have any experience in multifamily commercial real estate space before you just jumped into doing these bigger deal?
00:28:00:08 – 00:28:01:19
Atif
Not at all. Not at all.
00:28:01:19 – 00:28:02:24
Mark
So brand new.
00:28:03:01 – 00:28:28:19
Atif
Absolutely. My, all the knowledge I acquired was, after I joined, what do you do before that? I try to learn, unfortunately, there is some information available, but it’s hard to find that information and how to structured that information. I mean, the information is all randomly there, but there is no structure to it. So you don’t know, what, you are looking for and how you’re processing that information.
00:28:28:24 – 00:28:53:23
Atif
So after joining this, what do you group and there were two big advantages. One, all the information was available in a very structured form. And then there was a community would talk about it every week. We would have those calls. And on those calls, some topic is discussed in, you understand, whatever you learned, you understand where it is applicable, how it is applied, what’s the value of it?
00:28:54:04 – 00:29:04:24
Atif
So, that was the biggest, one of the big, advantages I get out of this program is that, structured.
00:29:04:24 – 00:29:22:24
Rod
Information. You know, you’ll you’ll you’ll see a lot of these events that are publicized on social media where they got all these speakers lined up, you know, big name speakers, that you recognize, and, and they’re fun and they’re very motivational, but you’re never going to get the soup to nuts training. You need to go do something.
00:29:23:02 – 00:29:41:09
Rod
It’s just more, you know, specific topics. It’s not the whole soup to nuts, like, you know, at my bootcamp, it’s basically me killing myself for 2 or 3 days, and. But you get it. It’s the soup to nuts. You get everything. And and so, you know, and I’m not I’m not saying you shouldn’t go to those other events because I go to them just to get motivated.
00:29:41:11 – 00:30:00:14
Rod
but, you know, to get the full picture, you really need, full immersion where you’re, where you’re, you know, really learning one the subject matter on one specific niche out there, either in real estate or some other business strategy versus a lot of ad hoc stuff.
00:30:00:16 – 00:30:20:02
Mark
Project this out a little bit, right? because I know you’re a high income earner, I get asked all the time, especially from high income earners. It’s like, hey, how do I how do I get there faster? How do I create that financial freedom projects out at your current pace? You know how many units you think you’re going to need and time frame of what you think that’s going to look like for your your version of financial freedom.
00:30:20:02 – 00:30:24:22
Mark
So, so people listening can get an idea of where you’re at and apply it to themselves.
00:30:25:00 – 00:30:51:23
Atif
So, I can talk about my journey as I started, I started taking action on last Thanksgiving as I talked about it. So it’s been roughly eight months. And, right now I have 900 units and with this pace, I think, I want to add, another 1000 units to roughly 2000 units, which is my target to achieve my financial goals.
00:30:52:00 – 00:31:08:09
Atif
so hopefully it is going to be a year more or less than that. right. I, can see that, I achieve my goals of 2000 units as well as, the financial goals I set for myself at Tiff.
00:31:08:09 – 00:31:18:20
Rod
Let me ask you this. What do you think is a characteristic that every multifamily investor should have? What do you think is something they should embody to be success in this business?
00:31:18:22 – 00:31:45:20
Atif
Yeah. So, my multifamily investor so I’m talking about, from the investor point of view as, when you come as an LP into the deal. So major thing you need to have is, understanding of the space. I see people who are interested in investing in multifamily, so, but they don’t understand how to evaluate a deal.
00:31:45:22 – 00:32:10:21
Atif
So, my advice to them is that, educate yourself with the, when a deal come to your table, how are you going to evaluate that? is it a good deal for you or. It’s not a good deal. So I try to understand a little bit about, underwriting process. a lot of people would tell you, almost everyone would tell you that they do a very conservative underwriting, but it’s not really.
00:32:10:23 – 00:32:12:03
Rod
right.
00:32:12:05 – 00:32:12:18
Atif
conservative.
00:32:12:19 – 00:32:32:10
Rod
Sure they do. They do a conservative underwriting in there, and they’re projecting and they do conservative underwriting. They’re projecting 10% rent increases every year. Yeah. No, I don’t think so. Yeah. So, but I will tell you just to throw in and I’m just going to, shameless plug here, get your butt to my bootcamp. If you’re going to be an LP and deals, get your butt to my bootcamp.
00:32:32:14 – 00:33:01:08
Rod
You know, don’t give your hard earned money to someone, anything. Stockmarket, real estate, passive investing in multifamily until you have some basic understanding of it. Spend a little time because you worked hard for that money. Spend a little bit of time learning it. So that’s really sound advice. I, I completely agree with you. So let me ask you this octave, do you think anybody, regardless of their background, and even even if they have no experience, or, you know, maybe some experience can do this business?
00:33:01:08 – 00:33:38:12
Atif
Absolutely. as long as you have the determination and, you know, your goals and you have the fire to, achieve your goals, anyone can do it. There is no, rule that, you need to have, MBA degree or the finance background or the I.T background or anything like that. It is, you all you need to do is that, you have that, fire to understand things, connect with people, learn, be open minded.
00:33:38:14 – 00:33:41:07
Atif
anyone can get into this business and, need it.
00:33:41:07 – 00:33:49:18
Mark
Yeah. By the way, you know, people are going to have excuses. Do you? Yeah. I know you have a full time job. Do you have a family as well, kids or anything like that? That also takes up your time?
00:33:49:21 – 00:34:10:24
Atif
Absolutely. So, it’s all about your passion. as I said, that you need to set a goal and you need to look forward to that goal. when I have a full time job and I’m doing this thing, I need to keep myself motivated. And I need to look forward to my goal. That, okay, I every day I am marching forward to my goal.
00:34:11:01 – 00:34:12:12
Atif
And that keeps me motivated.
00:34:12:12 – 00:34:25:08
Rod
Yeah. And I will tell you, you know, and you know this, if you come to one of my boot camps, what’s the first thing we do? Goals, scores. How do you get anything if you don’t know what it is? You’ve got to create that burning desire, that hunger. It starts with that. Otherwise you’re never going to take action with it.
00:34:25:08 – 00:34:45:18
Rod
There’s a reason my warriors and you know, and boot camp attendees are so freaking successful because they actually do it, you know, because you’ve got to, you know, create that that hunger and to push through fear, you know, to push through limiting beliefs, you know, or to get uncomfortable, so, you know, and it starts with goals. Well, listen, brother, I appreciate you coming on the show.
00:34:45:18 – 00:34:55:23
Rod
It’s good to see you. It’s been a little too long. but, you know, I’m very excited about our deal together. It’s going really well. and so, you know, I’ll be out there.
00:34:56:00 – 00:35:04:18
Mark
For anybody before you forget, rod, for anybody that wants to reach you, ATF. Where, where can they do that? If they have questions. Want to connect with you. Yeah.
00:35:04:20 – 00:35:09:20
Atif
So, they can see my logo at the back of my,
00:35:09:21 – 00:35:12:18
Rod
Well, they might just be listening. They might be listening. So give it to him.
00:35:12:20 – 00:35:32:18
Atif
Okay. So they can go to my website. The goal equity.com g u l e q u I t.com. And they can also reach me at this goal equity.com e b I f goal equity.com.
00:35:32:19 – 00:35:45:11
Rod
Nice. Well thank you buddy. It’s great to see you and, and I’m sure we’ll we’ll see you. I know we’ll see you at the September Warrior event. I’m sure you won’t miss that. nobody does, but, okay. Thanks, buddy.
