Ify Asoh is the Principal of Goshen Capital Investments, a Massachusetts-based firm that connects investors with high-quality commercial real estate opportunities. With a focus on education and empowerment, Ify actively builds strategic partnerships while managing a portfolio of 243 units across Pennsylvania and Texas, alongside passive investments in Mississippi. A Doctor of Pharmacy with 14 years of experience in critical care pharmacotherapy, Ify balances her professional achievements with being a proud mother of three.
Here’s some of the topics we covered:
- From ICU Pharmacist To Real Estate Success
- Securing Your First Deal and Raising Capital
- KP vs. GP & The Key Difference Every Investor Must Know
- A Game-Changing Insight for Student Housing
- Must-Do Action Steps for New Multifamily Investors
- Managing Time With 3 Kids, a Job, & Multifamily Hustle
- The Advantage of the Warrior Group
- Why Your Team Matters More Than the Deal
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
00:00:29:02 – 00:00:45:00
Rod
Welcome to Multifamily Rockstar. So as you guys know, these are the episodes where we go deep on our guest deals and give you some practical and actionable items to get started. Even if you haven’t done a deal yet. So you can actually get started and do a freakin deal. Right now I’ve got my co-host Mark Nagy with me as usual going on.
00:00:45:00 – 00:00:56:12
Mark
Rod, I feel like I say this every time we get a unique story, but today’s this deal, the ups and downs on this one to get a deal done. It’s I don’t think it’s ever we’ve never had a story like this.
00:00:56:14 – 00:01:19:19
Rod
Well we’ve got fiasco on and she’s with Goshen Capital and she is actually a doctor. She’s a she’s an ICU pharmacist. She’s a mom of three kids and, she’s just a little ball of fire. And you guys are really in for a treat today, and she’s already in three deals. Which, you’re going to hear about, but, welcome to the show.
00:01:19:21 – 00:01:24:19
Ify
Thank you. Thank you for having me. Of course. An honor.
00:01:24:21 – 00:01:41:21
Rod
Oh. Thank you. So. Well, let’s get into the first deal, shall we? Let’s get right into it. So let’s talk. Why don’t you tell us about the first deal that you did and, just kind of walk it through it? Where is it? What did you pay for it? How did you find it? How did you finance it?
00:01:41:21 – 00:01:43:01
Rod
Just take us through it.
00:01:43:03 – 00:01:59:20
Ify
Of course. So, for those who are listening, because I love to speak to the former version of myself, being in the right rooms is key. So I lived in Massachusetts, and I knew I was not going to pay in Massachusetts. Shout out to all the people that are buying in Massachusetts. I was not going to be me.
00:01:59:22 – 00:02:20:10
Ify
And so I knew I was going to be a remote investor. And so because I had children, I wasn’t able to attend all the different, you know, live events that happened in, commercial real estate across the country. And so I resorted to zooms. So through online zooms and rooms, I did a lot of networking, even though I’m the world’s greatest introvert.
00:02:20:15 – 00:02:47:06
Ify
But I did a lot of networking and I, you know, met with this sponsor. She had been in this particular markets, a market in Pennsylvania. It’s called Shippensburg, it’s in the Cumberland County. And they’re about to do their first syndication. And so it’s a, class A 120 unit, 480 beds because it’s student housing. It was built, I believe, 2009, the previous owner acquired it.
00:02:47:06 – 00:03:11:13
Ify
He uses our traditional fix and flip method, which is a little unusual, but that’s his method. He injected $1.5 million of capital all through 2022. So he got it in 2021. All through 2022, he’s renovating. He’s putting in, keyless entry. Amazon, you know, package hub. It’s fully furnished the works. So it’s it’s kind of like a 2022 build at this point.
00:03:11:15 – 00:03:32:23
Ify
But he doesn’t realize or he doesn’t remember that this is student housing. And there’s a very short window in which you have to start leasing for the next school year. And so he, you know, starts right. You know, occupancy starts going down. And so he gets in a second property management company just to help with leasing up. I think when we got into due diligence he was about 66% occupied.
00:03:32:23 – 00:03:53:12
Ify
The break point is about 60%. And so it was about 66% occupied. It was still cash flowing. And so we acquired it, for about 13.3 million because it wasn’t stable. We knew right away we weren’t going to get agency debt on it. So we got a recourse loan for about 9.3. And then we had to raise about 5 million.
00:03:53:14 – 00:04:20:03
Ify
Now it’s cash flows like crazy. But here was 700 number one seven. And number one was it was located in a market that wasn’t well known. See I was raising on two deals at the same time. One was in Shippensburg and the other was in Fort Worth. And if you ask the average investor, where would you rather regardless of the numbers, even though the numbers on this one were stronger, they always gravitated towards Fort Worth.
00:04:20:05 – 00:04:21:11
Ify
And so the.
00:04:21:13 – 00:04:44:07
Rod
Let me interject. Let me interject for let me interject for one second. Guys, we tried to never raise for more than one deal at a time, because for that very reason, it’s very difficult. People don’t like having choices either. That mate that that that’s another piece of this. So just as a caveat, I encourage you not to try to raise for two deals at the same time, because sometimes they won’t do either one because they have to make a decision.
00:04:44:12 – 00:04:46:07
Rod
So, sorry. Please continue.
00:04:46:07 – 00:05:03:16
Ify
Oh, no, of course I I’ve actually told that to people. I said, don’t do it. Ask me how I know what that phrase from you. So, you know, the I came into the team at the time I came into this, particular project. The team had already been put together, most of them. And so this was going to be my first deal.
00:05:03:16 – 00:05:31:07
Ify
I was coming in with very little experience in terms of raising capital. So if you’re listening to this, raising capital is one of the most important things that you have to do in this business. It’s a relationship business. So team was put together and then shortly this is what I was telling about before, shortly after we signed, PSA one of the key principles of the deal, he looked at the raw numbers, which were amazing, was, smoking deal.
00:05:31:09 – 00:05:48:16
Ify
Like what I would say. And he approached the, the founder of the deal and asked for her to kick off everybody on the team. He wanted to split the proceeds with her 5050, and she said, no. She said, I’ve put this team together for a reason. And he said, if you don’t do it, I will walk.
00:05:48:16 – 00:06:03:17
Ify
And she said, goodbye. And there I was, relatively brand new on this team. I had just joined the Warriors, I was at work and I got a call saying, ring, ring, we need a new carpet. So and so that was my foray into, capital.
00:06:03:21 – 00:06:24:00
Rod
Oh, you stepped in as did you step in as a KP as well. And on the day no no no no, I didn’t. You mean as a coach GPF with with with money. Right. Gotcha. By the way, just, just to elaborate, guys, KP typically means key principle, which is someone signing on the debt. You came in as a GP, which is a general partner GP.
00:06:24:03 – 00:06:28:11
Rod
Got it. Okay. So and it’s trial by fire because you got to raise how much.
00:06:28:13 – 00:06:33:16
Ify
Rather is about 5 million for this and 5 million for the other one. Wow wow.
00:06:33:16 – 00:06:41:03
Rod
Yes, yes. That would even give me pause okay. We just had million raise. No. Yeah okay. PS you have a deal.
00:06:41:05 – 00:06:58:11
Ify
We had we had half of KP. We had the person who was, you know, on the deal. Yes. It was half a KP and they were looking for another one. And then we got an offer make a deal in Fort Worth. So we had to there were you know we were juggling at the same time. But you know, going back to the Shippensburg, deal, the business plan, because, you know, it was fully furnished.
00:06:58:11 – 00:07:20:12
Ify
It was, the previous owner had put in about a $1.5 million into it. He, upgraded it all throughout, 2022. And so the business plan really was to stabilize it, which is to increase the occupancy. At the time we closed, I believe it was 22.5% vacant. And so all we had to do was just, you know, bring people into it.
00:07:20:14 – 00:07:38:24
Ify
Our business plan was to, develop a hybrid type model. We’re going to reposition the asset. And we weren’t going to be the first, operators doing that in that area. The area had begun to expand during Covid. I believe that, there’s a real way that feeds about two thirds of the nation that goes through there.
00:07:39:04 – 00:08:03:00
Ify
And so we saw a lot of, distribution and warehouse being built in that area. So a lot more families were coming into that area. And so all we needed to do, you know, was stabilize. So what we plan to do was to, by the end of our third year, have 50% students and 50% traditional renters. And the other reason we did that was in case no, no, God forbid, but Covid 5.0 happened.
00:08:03:02 – 00:08:14:06
Ify
And so we wouldn’t we wouldn’t be, you know, left with, well, holding the bag. And so, yeah, that was kind of what we did. Our, I think we got off so so.
00:08:14:06 – 00:08:26:16
Rod
Let me ask you this. How did you raise the money? I mean, what did you have to do to to pull that home? How many how many people were raising money and involved in these deals? I suppose you had separate teams in each one.
00:08:26:18 – 00:08:32:09
Ify
And separate teams in each one. I wish I could give you the whole number, I think.
00:08:32:11 – 00:08:33:02
Rod
Okay.
00:08:33:04 – 00:08:55:00
Ify
Approximately either. So did we raise the we raised the entire amount on, the Fort Worth asset, but we did not raise everything that we needed on Shippensburg. That was a hard one to raise, regardless of the numbers. And so we, sought Cap funding for that. So that was, you know, seminar number 4 or 5, but at that point.
00:08:55:00 – 00:09:10:13
Ify
Yeah. So but the you know, the deal’s done. Well, it’s outperforming what we even had projected to the investors. The only issue would be that, you know, we’ve had to pay about $2 million in, the finance.
00:09:10:15 – 00:09:35:11
Rod
Yeah. The finance charges. Okay. Well, but you but it’s outperforming, so that helps. Okay. Okay. All right. So, so you’re on your you’re on your third deal now. Well, you know, let’s let’s go back to the student housing because we don’t really talk about the student housing as much here. And, and you said something that’s critical in student housing that anybody in the business that does those knows is you, you you said it.
00:09:35:11 – 00:09:43:10
Rod
You have a very short window to lease the place up. And if you miss that window, you’re you’re quasi screwed. And so, you know what.
00:09:43:10 – 00:10:05:23
Ify
Happened to us, right? Okay. So we close we’re we’re working with the property management company. And what we didn’t realize was that the previous, we believe the previous owner had, a bit of an ownership stake in this property management company because all of a sudden, we closed down, we realized we’re not fully in alignment anymore with this property management company.
00:10:05:23 – 00:10:22:07
Ify
They’re not doing things that we had thought that they should have done. So we did what everybody should do. We fired them and we had to get another property management company. Except guess when that was happening, that was happening during that window. Well, we needed to.
00:10:22:09 – 00:10:24:14
Rod
Oh boy. Well that’s stressful.
00:10:24:16 – 00:10:37:23
Ify
I know it is. So the, the the thing is, the two assets that we closed on there was absolutely nothing with the buildings themselves on the business plans. We had a lot of seminars from people problems.
00:10:38:00 – 00:11:00:10
Rod
Yeah. Those of you that are listening to this show for the first time, I call failures and learning experiences. I call them seminars. And so that’s what she’s talking about. You just get the lesson. It’s only a failure if you don’t get back up. You don’t get the lesson when you get your nose bloodied. So, so we’re going to take a quick break from this incredible episode for a word from our sponsor, my incredible freaking warrior program.
00:11:00:10 – 00:11:20:23
Rod
If you look in the mirror and think about how things are going for yourself, are you thriving or just surviving? If you haven’t heard, I’ve got this amazing mentorship program. My students are called My Warriors, and at last count, they own somewhere between 190 and 200,000 units that we know of. It’s an extraordinary group of people that are just flat out crushing it in multifamily.
00:11:20:24 – 00:11:38:16
Rod
And here’s why that’s a big deal. We could be facing the greatest transfer of wealth we see in our lifetimes. With the current economic environment, where an incredible opportunity is already here. If you’d like to apply to our amazing warrior program, text the word crush to 72345 and we’ll set up a call. You can look us over, we’ll look you over.
00:11:38:16 – 00:11:51:10
Rod
And I can promise you, even if you don’t join the program and it’s not a fit, you’re going to leave that call better than when you got on it. So again, text the word crush to seven, two, three, four, five, and you and I will speak soon. All right, let’s get back to it. So the Fort Worth deal.
00:11:51:16 – 00:11:54:08
Rod
What is that? That’s is that was that a value add project?
00:11:54:10 – 00:12:23:01
Ify
That was a classic value. Well yes. Yes yes and no. That was a classic value add project. It was 123. It was an older class C. I, I think it was a 1968 or 69 build. Initially we were going in with the traditional we’ll renovate 20% of the units, etc., etc., only to find out that the average tenancy there was five years, I believe, when we were under contract, that one of the oldest, tenants that had been there was taken to hospital.
00:12:23:01 – 00:12:41:19
Ify
She was like she had lived there for about 20 years, something along those lines. So instead we thought about it and said, you know, instead of kicking people out, why don’t we just maintain the stabilization that’s already there? And that’s what we did? If a unit needed to be renovated, we would, but we didn’t have to in order to achieve the rents that we have now.
00:12:41:21 – 00:12:58:01
Ify
And in fact, because we have such an investor centric property management company, during one of the calls, they said, hey, listen, this, leasing office here is kind of large, has a bath and want to split it. And we said, why not? And that’s what we’re doing. So we’re creating value through there. We have
00:12:58:03 – 00:13:20:09
Rod
Throwing throwing an extra unit in. Yeah. Got it. Yeah. Nice nice nice. Well that is that is a sound strategy. When you said five years, like, you know, it’s difficult to upset that applecart, you know, when you’ve got residents that have been there like that, they’re, they’re they’re loyal. They love the place, you know. Yeah. You could do smaller rent bumps, but you don’t have to you don’t have to empty the place out.
00:13:20:11 – 00:13:33:20
Ify
All right. They only have one request. Keep all the bills together. Don’t don’t make us split it them. That’s all we do. You can raise the rent if you want, but they don’t want to have to pay utilities separate from, you know, rent. And that’s what we’ve done.
00:13:33:22 – 00:13:36:03
Rod
No. No kidding. Interesting. Yeah.
00:13:36:03 – 00:14:02:09
Mark
So we we jumped right into multiple deals here. What you’re doing challenges, all these sorts of things. Let’s take a step back for the for you for the newbie investor that’s listening to this. And who hasn’t done any of the things that we’re talking about. Yeah. What what are some, some maybe some action items that you think you can deep dive into to where people should start when they’re first getting into this and, and first just educating themselves about multifamily?
00:14:02:11 – 00:14:03:11
Rod
Good question.
00:14:03:13 – 00:14:21:10
Ify
Yeah. No. Let me give a brief background to myself so that, you know, no one thinks that, you know, I was born into this world, breathe in and live in the real estate because I wasn’t that place. I’m a I’m a first generation immigrant from Nigeria. I’ve been in this country for 20 years. I have, three kids.
00:14:21:10 – 00:14:30:24
Ify
I’m a single parent, I’m a pharmacist. And so I’m speaking to immigrants, I’m speaking to healthcare workers, and I’m speaking to parents, and I’m speaking to you single parents.
00:14:31:01 – 00:14:47:13
Rod
If a hold on, hold on. I did not know you were a single parent. I can’t tell you my my respect. Well, I forgot, forgive me. My respect for you has just gone through the frickin roof. I did forget. Forgive me. I’m at 600 emails a day and 54.
00:14:47:15 – 00:14:48:21
Ify
Or your mom was a single mom.
00:14:48:21 – 00:14:57:05
Rod
I remember that, yes, I so we talked about it because I would have told you that. Oh, I’m so impressed with you right now. I can’t even begin to tell you. All right, please continue.
00:14:57:07 – 00:15:16:18
Ify
No. Of course. And so I didn’t have, you know, entrepreneurship running through my veins. In fact, I despised it. Until one day life happened. You know, one day I’m married and then I’m not. And I find my, you know, my back against the metaphorical wall. I had nowhere to go. Well, it could have gone down, but I had decided to move forward.
00:15:16:20 – 00:15:34:13
Ify
And so for those of you at home, what you can do. So you think you don’t have any money? Great. That’s. Money is not the only currency. Time is times the currency. Our relationships that are currency knowledge is a currency and you can get that for free. And so the first thing to do is to start to invest in yourself.
00:15:34:16 – 00:15:57:21
Ify
For me, I didn’t realize until I became an entrepreneur the the very thick, multiple layers of scarcity mindset that I apparently grew up with, whether I was from home, from Nigeria, where it was, I just had a lot of faulty thinking. And I spent, the very first periods of months, you know, of my journey as an entrepreneur on doing that.
00:15:57:23 – 00:16:16:00
Ify
And so reading books, for those who say, oh, I don’t have time because I don’t have the bandwidth or the time or the energy to sit down and read a book, but there are audiobooks. You can put them in your car. So investing in yourself, taking action in, you know, in little ways, but you need to have goals.
00:16:16:05 – 00:16:40:02
Ify
You need to have a why. Why are you doing this motivation is not enough. Discipline is what will, you know, get you to rise to the top when motivation has, kind of expired or given up. So those are some of the things you can do. Invest in yourself through learning, through, online networking. I don’t even say you don’t like an online networking or networking at all in person, because I’m an introvert.
00:16:40:04 – 00:16:58:17
Ify
I don’t gain any energy. I don’t draw energy from the crowds at all. But that’s okay. But it’s necessary because if anyone had told me early on that this was a relationship business, that would have saved me a whole lot of, stress, stress and headache. I’ve had to. And, you know, for me, networking is the metaphorical frog.
00:16:58:17 – 00:17:09:05
Ify
If I have to keep kissing in order to meet the right person or the right deal or or the right relationship. So I don’t know if that helps, but those are some of the things people can start doing.
00:17:09:07 – 00:17:14:02
Rod
You know, call me crazy, but it works a lot more.
00:17:14:02 – 00:17:17:14
Mark
So what we might call you crazy.
00:17:17:16 – 00:17:35:18
Rod
Oh, call got you got you got that? I thought you said my mic was screwed up. No. Okay, so so so correct me if I’m wrong. Weren’t you a lot more soft spoken when we spoke before? I just had this recollection of a much softer energy.
00:17:35:20 – 00:17:37:09
Ify
I was less.
00:17:37:11 – 00:17:59:13
Rod
Fearful as well. Kind of as fearful and softer. All right, all right. Because I that’s that’s my memory of you. And so I was actually I was actually so surprised when we started talking. And your energy is like through the roof. So, so let me ask you this. How do you manage your time between three kids? What are their ages, by the way?
00:17:59:13 – 00:18:00:16
Rod
What’s the age range?
00:18:00:18 – 00:18:09:12
Ify
I have an almost 15 year old. I have a 12 year old. Am IA7 year old? Two boys and a girl. The seven year old probably thinks she’s 17, but.
00:18:09:14 – 00:18:13:14
Rod
I have a has element. She’s. She’s spoiled rotten. Okay. All right.
00:18:13:14 – 00:18:27:19
Ify
No no no no no no. They they are they they have learned, they’ve learned a lot. They’re very the also they’re relatively disciplined. They have chores etc. but no, no, no spoiling in my household.
00:18:27:21 – 00:18:34:14
Rod
Okay. So how do you, how do you manage the time and still give them the time and energy that they need? As a single mom?
00:18:34:16 – 00:18:39:23
Ify
Is it easy? No. Do I win all the time? No. I give myself grace. So that’s that’s the first thing. Good.
00:18:40:00 – 00:18:41:04
Rod
But huge.
00:18:41:06 – 00:18:58:17
Ify
Yeah, it is, it is. But you’ll be very surprised. Like I said, time is a currency, right? I’ll give you an example of what I did over the summer. I wanted them to read books, and when I only had 1 or 2 kids, I would read with them. But I was working on my business this past summer.
00:18:58:17 – 00:19:11:05
Ify
So what I did was I, and this is just an example to show people that there are different, innovative ways that you can work things around. So I got my older one. I think I had I had him reading, Rich dad, Poor Dad for teens and.
00:19:11:05 – 00:19:11:19
Rod
Then a nice.
00:19:11:20 – 00:19:32:18
Ify
Little one, the 12 year old of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. And then what we would do at the end of the day would be they would, summarize the chapter they had read in a language that the seven year old could understand. So for me, it showed me that they were learning, they were reading. And then she was also getting the benefit.
00:19:32:18 – 00:19:49:18
Ify
So could I sit down with each person? No, I just I couldn’t, so I had to come up with ways, you know, to do this. My, my kids know when I pick them up from school. The younger two, if they see mommy’s on a call on the zoom, lips are sealed. They’re trained, you know, they’re trained to do this.
00:19:49:21 – 00:20:09:07
Ify
Why do I do that? Because I don’t have all the time in the world. So I’ve had to take investor calls when I’m picking them up. And no one knows that there’s anyone in the car. So, you know, the other the other day, right. On on Saturday, guess what I did? I took my my boys, to cut their hair.
00:20:09:09 – 00:20:22:07
Ify
I used to cut their hair during Covid, but now I’ve gone back to the hair salon, so I took them to cut their hair. And while they were cutting their hair, because I knew that that was going to take time, I had my laptop open it up, and I was working on the investor relations reports, the monthly reports, because they have to be consistent.
00:20:22:07 – 00:20:30:06
Ify
You have to you have to keep, you know, communicating with your investors. So that’s what I was doing in the corner of a barber in the corner of a barbershop.
00:20:30:07 – 00:20:38:10
Rod
If multitasking, I mean, that’s multitasking. You have to do it. Okay. That’s really valuable. Valuable, feedback. Valuable feedback.
00:20:38:12 – 00:21:01:15
Mark
And you have, by the way, you have so many potential excuses and reasons to have not taken action and have not done all these things. And telling this and I know another one here that we can talk about the probably the one of the most common one, and especially coming up this week is interest rates. Today, September 16th, this episode will be out after the fed likely cuts rates on Wednesday.
00:21:01:15 – 00:21:18:10
Mark
So for the people listening, if they’re thinking, oh, I want to wait on the sidelines and don’t interest rates come down more? The market does this. The market does that. What what would you say to those people that are just waiting for the fed or the government or whatever to to make a change before they take action?
00:21:18:12 – 00:21:38:16
Ify
Now that’s a great question. They’ll always and I don’t know if this year was just particularly strange because the, the, the conversations about the interest rate just seemed off the hook. But they’ll always be a reason, always, for the person that wants to find a reason. They’ll always be a reason to stay on the sidelines. The interest rates were through the roof and we were still underwriting.
00:21:38:16 – 00:21:56:20
Ify
We were still taking action because because you have to. The only thing is you have to go through a few more haystacks to find that needle. So if you want to sit on the sidelines under any market, it’s possible. If you only want to buy when the market you’re trying to time the market, it doesn’t make any sense at all.
00:21:57:00 – 00:22:19:00
Ify
So I say take action regardless. It’s not to say buy anything at every point in time, but you know, there’s always something that can be done underwriting deals, educating yourself, educating your investors about what’s happening. You know, in the market, there’s always something that needs to be done. I actually spoke to an investor today and, he was hesitant about investing again.
00:22:19:00 – 00:22:36:16
Ify
He invested last year, with me, and he was hesitant about, you know, investing again. And I, I feel like telling him, listen, if you don’t do anything this year, that means you’re waiting till next year. You just pushing the plan forward. The business we’re in is not a get rich quick is a grow wealth slow. And so, you know, always waiting for the right time.
00:22:36:16 – 00:22:44:13
Ify
When is the right time? Even if we get a deal now, it’ll take months before it closes. So always take action. That’s that’s that’s my thing.
00:22:44:15 – 00:22:54:13
Rod
So in this in this, in this, I mean, you’ve only been a warrior since February of last year. How’s your warrior experience been in general?
00:22:54:15 – 00:23:22:15
Ify
Okay, so let me tell you why I joined the, the warrior program. Before I joined the warrior program, I’d been, you know, learning about commercial multifamily on my own. And, that was 20, 22 when I first started. I had just joined another mentorship. There was no focus on commercial multifamily. And so when my when I became laser focused on commercial multifamily, the first thing my first instinct was I am not buying into another mentorship.
00:23:22:15 – 00:23:42:08
Ify
I’m still paying for this other one, not doing it. I can do this on my own. I can find all the information I want on my own. Not everybody needs a mentorship. Look at so and so. They didn’t get into mentorships and they’re making it. And so, I think it was late summer, early fall. I started calling brokers, and, you know, they were calling me back.
00:23:42:08 – 00:24:07:15
Ify
I was trying to underwrite, and it took a couple of months for me to realize, yeah, they’re calling you back, but they’re not giving you pocket listings. And the reality of mentorship going back to that principle of are multiple currencies. Money’s a currency. Education is the currency of knowledge. Time is a currency. And then, people, I don’t know if I already said relationships.
00:24:07:17 – 00:24:30:12
Ify
That’s a currency. And so it became very obvious to me that I may have some knowledge, not all knowledge, but I may have some knowledge. But one key piece that was missing was people. It was relationships. I could see the finish line. I knew exactly what to do. I knew I understood the mechanics of how multifamily investing work, but I just needed an army to cross to help me cross that finish line.
00:24:30:14 – 00:24:52:17
Ify
And so thankfully, by that time I had met Ron, I’d gone through your, you know, virtual boot camp. And I, you know, I went through a little bit of a mindset shift when I was ready. There were a couple of things that I looked out for. And in terms of selecting a mentorship program for me, the introvert, for me, it needed to be large.
00:24:52:22 – 00:25:13:07
Ify
I wanted an army, so if it was a small mentorship, I was not doing it. So that was one thing. The second thing is I wanted an operator who had and just been operating for a long time, but he had been teaching for a long time because I did not want to be the guinea pig. And so I went to your website and I think it’s a section called Warrior Wins or something along those lines.
00:25:13:09 – 00:25:35:22
Ify
And then as I was scrolling through, two things happened. The first thing was I saw someone I maybe was and I really can’t remember who it was, but someone said, you know, in 2017 and I went, boom, that’s it. He’s been running something since 2017. It didn’t just start. And then another thing that happened was, as I was scrolling through, I began to see people that I knew, but I didn’t know they had been in the warrior program.
00:25:35:22 – 00:25:52:22
Ify
Some people I had seen and met and touched in person, like John Sidoti, I was like, oh, that makes sense. That’s why he has and so on and so and this other person has hundreds of units that okay, so proof of concept. So this thing works. And so you know, I joined the war program at this point I was looking for an army.
00:25:52:22 – 00:26:14:05
Ify
I kind of had, you know, education under my belt. And then that thing with the Cfpb happened when the Cfpb backed out. And then they really needed an army. And an army came through one of the warriors that well, the key piece that came on ideal has been on your show. And he said and I can attest to the fact that he alone on ideal raised over $1.5 million.
00:26:14:10 – 00:26:27:18
Ify
So through my connections, well, I may not even have raised a ton, through my retail investors because I was just starting at that time. But through my connections, millions of dollars were raised on both deals that I participated in.
00:26:27:23 – 00:26:32:23
Rod
Connections in the warrior program. I mean, yeah, yeah yeah yeah, yeah. And listen.
00:26:33:00 – 00:26:43:20
Ify
You know, go to the warrior only event. I almost missed it the first time I was tired. I didn’t want to go. And I’m so glad I, I did because on the I’m sorry I cut you off. Right. I’m sorry I’m so I.
00:26:43:20 – 00:26:44:18
Rod
Close continue.
00:26:44:20 – 00:26:45:16
Ify
Signing around.
00:26:45:18 – 00:26:49:10
Rod
I’m the one that usually does it. So please consider.
00:26:49:12 – 00:27:19:03
Ify
I love watching you, Emeril. No, this is great. No, but, No, but the warrior program, I was exhausted, very first one. I was very exhausted. I was very overwhelmed. On the last day, everyone else had left. There were just us stragglers behind. I decided to stay on a Sunday, and we’re walking to our restaurant. During that stroll, I met the person that would later become a GP in one of our deals, and he brought in, I think, by the way, over half $1 million, way over half $1 million into our deal.
00:27:19:03 – 00:27:35:08
Ify
Just during that stroll, I didn’t know that that was what he was going to turn into. And that’s what I’m talking about, having people in different markets across the nation being able to say, okay, so if I need a team in this state, oh, there’s already an army in that state. And that is what drew me to the warrior program.
00:27:35:08 – 00:27:36:23
Ify
Sorry, very long winded, but.
00:27:37:00 – 00:27:58:21
Rod
Oh no, that’s that’s that’s that’s very helpful. Really helpful for people that have never heard about it. By the way, if you are interested in the warrior program, take frickin action and text the word crush to seven, two, three, 4 or 5. That’s how you apply. Okay, we don’t take everybody, but, you know, I will tell you if you set up that call, you leave that call better than when you got on it, because you’ll be very clear on what it is you really want.
00:27:59:02 – 00:28:18:03
Rod
But text crush to 72345 and we will be speaking soon. If that’s the case. Now I have I have something else I want to ask you. Because it’s not all. Well, you know what? I’m not going to go there. I want to ask something else. In this journey of yours. Talk about some moments. You talked, you mentioned a few, but some.
00:28:18:05 – 00:28:29:10
Rod
If something else comes to mind, like an epiphany, like, Holy cow, now I get it. Okay, I guess the fact that you need an army was one. But if anything else comes to mind, let me know.
00:28:29:12 – 00:28:51:14
Ify
That there is. And this is something that I preach very heavily. The team is more important than the deal. So the team. So before you start underwriting, you know, I meet a lot of people, oh I’m underwriting this amount. Yeah. Yeah that’s great. Get the team first. The team is more important than the deal. A great team can take a fledgling deal and breathe life into it, and a terrible team can take a great deal.
00:28:51:14 – 00:28:53:07
Ify
And shredded. Shredded apart.
00:28:53:09 – 00:29:00:16
Rod
So hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I want you to repeat that because it is so important okay. Say it again.
00:29:00:18 – 00:29:13:07
Ify
Okay. So the team is more important than the deal because a great team can take a fledgling deal and breathe life into it, and a terrible team can take a great deal and shred it apart.
00:29:13:07 – 00:29:17:07
Rod
And run it into the ground. Ask me how I know. Yeah.
00:29:17:09 – 00:29:18:17
Mark
You know, please tell us.
00:29:18:17 – 00:29:37:14
Rod
I know because I’m. I’m dealing with 23 of those that somebody ran into the ground so that I’m. That I’m taking over to fix. Yeah. It’s okay. Life will go on. But, boy, that that just is so important. Guys. This business is a team sport. Lots of different hats you can wear. And so, so that’s a good question for you.
00:29:37:18 – 00:29:42:17
Rod
What what hat are you wearing or what hats are you wearing on these teams that you’re in?
00:29:42:19 – 00:30:00:18
Ify
Well, let me tell you. So when friends gave me remember I came in at the time I came and I was at that time one of the earliest members. So, there were rules and responsibilities. I had been, assigned. One of mine was, you know, going to be part of the, you know, Investor relations. I was going to raise money.
00:30:00:18 – 00:30:18:24
Ify
That’s great. And then I started asking, you know, lead with value, right? I think I looked at the pitch deck that was already prepared because I just showed up, right? And I asked, hey, can I just my mom’s an English teacher. Can I just make a few, just just a few grammatical errors here. Yeah. I won’t do anything to the content.
00:30:18:24 – 00:30:39:24
Ify
Just a little word. That was the day I learned how to use Canva. Because I took that thing and I changed everything. And so that was what I started doing, you know, helping here and there. So at this point, I run Investor relations. Both. I’m part of the core asset management team, and I, I perform a lot of the admin roles, you know, the meetings, the scheduling, the zooms, etc..
00:30:40:05 – 00:31:03:19
Ify
So that’s, you know, the, the a lot of, a lot of behind the scenes goes on with cash flow, cash flow portal. You know, it’s making sure subscription documents have been, properly filled out, sending things to Merrill’s team so that they can file the blue, you know, the blue sky filings, etc.. So I do a lot of administrative tasks, and I prepare the, investor relations reports.
00:31:03:19 – 00:31:08:19
Ify
The monthly investor reports lead that team, and then I raise capital.
00:31:08:21 – 00:31:21:05
Rod
It’s a lot. That’s a lot for you. And I know and I know you and I just know from what little I know about you that you absolutely kill it in all of those roles. So very impressive. Yeah.
00:31:21:07 – 00:31:35:04
Ify
And I don’t know if you remember this, but I think I had to meet with your team initially. There was this 30 day, you know, goal setting, etc. there was no hard sell. I told them I didn’t want to go into a mentorship. I didn’t have the money. I’m like, oh, I’m all set. I think I know what I’m doing.
00:31:35:06 – 00:31:38:16
Ify
I can figure this out on my own. I remember.
00:31:38:18 – 00:31:41:24
Rod
Yeah, I was under the eye, right?
00:31:42:01 – 00:32:00:02
Ify
I can see the I can see the Promised Land. So I didn’t need one until I couldn’t. Until I realized that I needed a team. I was talking to brokers. They were calling me back. It took me a couple of months to realize, girl, you haven’t traded. They’re not giving you a pocket listing. So I needed an army.
00:32:00:04 – 00:32:18:07
Ify
I knew I needed an army. That’s what I did. So my little analytical mind, what I did was I, you know, instead of creating a table because I needed to compare all the different programs, I opened up different programs as tabs on my computer, and there were certain characteristics and qualities. I don’t think I will do this, that I was looking out for number one.
00:32:18:09 – 00:32:38:16
Ify
Number one, it had to be a large group, and number two, it had to be not just an operator that had been been around for a while, but the person had to have been teaching for a while. I didn’t want to be the guinea pig, and I wanted one on one coaching because the program I had gone in before, which was a phenomenal program, it wasn’t focused on commercial multifamily.
00:32:38:22 – 00:32:58:07
Ify
There was no coaching. So I went through all the, you know, chasing shiny object, drinking from a firehose. I didn’t want to do that again. So by the time I realized, I think I do need I do need help. And then I reached out to you on Instagram. You must have asked me for my phone number.
00:32:58:07 – 00:33:12:13
Ify
So. And I was like, it’s probably his VA, so I. I gave it to you, and then you called me. I was at work. I can’t remember a darn thing you said, but I kept on going. Oh, my gosh, is this. You know, I was like, starstruck. I can’t believe you’re calling me. I what do you call me?
00:33:12:15 – 00:33:29:20
Ify
And I remember one thing you said. You said, listen, if you know you’re not going to be ready to to do that. You don’t have to get into this now. So you weren’t even pushing me, you know, get into my program. There was none of that. And I had a I had a great sense of urgency. And I was like, I’m just so broad, I can do this.
00:33:29:20 – 00:33:32:04
Ify
I’m going to make him proud. And so it.
00:33:32:04 – 00:33:33:09
Rod
Was my.
00:33:33:09 – 00:33:48:13
Ify
My goal was to record for, you know, my sword. And on all of this, after I close my third deal, I’m in the middle of my third deal somewhere. Okay, fine, I’m doing it early, but I wanted to do it after my third one as a way of seeing.
00:33:48:13 – 00:34:03:10
Rod
The those those of you that are listening to what she’s talking about is, is our warriors get a sword after their first deal. And so you wanted to have three just to really hammer at home. I love it, I love it, I love it so much.
00:34:03:11 – 00:34:11:24
Ify
First of all, people could say, beginner’s luck. The second one. Yeah, maybe the third one. Okay, I think we know she knows what she’s doing.
00:34:12:01 – 00:34:12:09
Rod
So if.
00:34:12:09 – 00:34:22:13
Mark
You for people that love your story, which I don’t know, who wouldn’t love your story? And they want to reach out to you, maybe connect, ask them questions. Whatever, where, where, and how can they reach you?
00:34:22:15 – 00:34:38:24
Ify
I am super active on LinkedIn. They’re under my contracted name if we are. So, Pharm D, that’s doctor and pharmacy. I also have an Instagram account which is at ifI underscore my last name, which is SRH. So if you underscore ACA.
00:34:39:01 – 00:34:59:09
Rod
Perfect perfect perfect perfect. Thank you so much. It is such a delight to see you. And I’m so grateful you spent some time. You absolutely added value. You’re a ball of fire. And and I know and I know I know you’re going to be doing a case study at the Orlando bootcamp November 8th, ninth and 10th. And and guys, if you haven’t, if you haven’t signed up for that, what the heck is going on?
00:34:59:12 – 00:35:14:02
Rod
Get your butt to that bootcamp. There’ll be a thousand people there. It’ll be extraordinary. And you’ll be doing a case study. I’m likely going to have you on a panel or two as well. Because you you can I can just see how much value you’re going to add. So it’s such a treat. It’s great to see you.
00:35:14:04 – 00:35:16:24
Rod
And I look forward to giving you a hug in November.
00:35:17:01 – 00:35:18:06
Ify
So yeah. Thank you.
00:35:18:06 – 00:35:21:18
Rod
Thanks, guys. Mark I’m Mark. Mark I’ll see you later, buddy.
