Deepa is a Real Estate investor and Multifamily Syndicator based in Seattle, WA. She was introduced to the world of Real Estate Investing when she was looking for an investment vehicle for her savings when working as an Engineer. She started investing passively in apartment communities, fell in love with the concept, and transitioned into working in real estate full time. She focuses on identifying and investing in high-performing real estate assets and is passionate about financial literacy and creating multiple passive investment streams.
- Being Flexible & Making Changes to Follow Your Dreams
- Private Placement Memorandums
- Getting a Feel For The People Around You
- The Secret To Multifamily Is Adding Value
- The Most Common Syndications, 506b and 506c
- Sometimes The Investor Won’t Be “The Right Fit”
To find out more about partnering or investing in a multifamily deal: Text Partner to 72345 or email Partner@RodKhleif.com
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Full Transcript Below
Intro
Hi. My name is Rod Khleif, and I’m the host of “The Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing” podcasts. 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 to another edition of How to Build Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing. I’m Rod Khleif, and I am thrilled that you’re here, and I know you’re going to get tremendous value from the dynamic woman that I’m interviewing today. Now, her name is Deepa Akula, and Deepa is in about 3,000 doors as a General Partner and Limited Partner. 1300 of those doors are as a General Partner. And she’s actually partnered with somebody that I have a big affinity for, KK, and very excited to have you on the show today, Deepa.
Deepa
Oh, thanks, Rod. It’s an honor to be here.
Rod
Oh, thank you for that. Well, listen, now, let me say a couple more things about you. First of all, you’re a civil and structural engineer in, I guess, the aerospace industry, or you are going to be in the aerospace industry. You’re an immigrant like me. Your bio is so extensive, I didn’t even want to try to attack it. So if you would just maybe go back and tell us a little bit about who you are and where you came from and kind of bring us current, if you would.
Deepa
Yeah, no, thank you. So, I immigrated from India and I came here to the University of Missouri in Columbia for my master’s in mechanical and aerospace engineering. So I had a bachelor’s from India in mechanical engineering and I really wanted to be in the aerospace field. And the University of Missouri had Boeing contracts and a lot of research. So I went there and Boeing paid for my master’s. So it was a free ride for college and I was looking forward to working for them once I graduated. And I graduated in 2007. And I found out after I graduated or right about when I was about to graduate is that since 9/11 or after 9/11, Boeing was not hiring foreign-born engineers who did not have a green card or a citizen. And I was neither at that time. And my only options were to pack up, go back to India, or just find another job here and apply for a work visa to stay here, to add value.
Rod
Sure.
Deepa
And I took the first job I got and it was in civil engineering. And I was like, okay, I’m just going to take that job up and see what I can do. And I was trained in building and designing things that move. Automobiles and flights, and now I had to work on structures. That we preferably want to be stable, like homes and towers. So I did that. I took that up as a challenge and I passed the professional engineering exam for civil structural engineers. So I’m a licensed professional civil structural engineer in nine different states. And I did that for 14 years and was investing in real estate on the side. I’m an avid reader, and somehow I– it was a blog or a book where I read about syndications and just started reading about them, did extensive research. I took a boot camp, it was a three-day boot camp, and learned about syndications and started investing on the side as I was working.
Rod
As a passive investor like an LP.
Deepa
I’m a passive investor, yes, as an LP. And that’s kind of how I got behind-the-scenes work because PPMs, we usually don’t have access to it if we don’t invest.
Rod
Right. For those of you that don’t know what a PPM is in a syndication, it’s called a Private Placement Memorandum. And it’s a document that’s meant to scare the hell out of you because it talks about everything that can go wrong with the deal and describes the deal and describes the operators. And it’s kind of the CYA document to protect an operator from investors. I mean, really, that’s a bad way to place, to put that. But it’s really to protect everybody, including the operator, and just talk about what can go wrong with the deal and describe the deal. So that’s a PPM. So I’m sorry to interrupt. Please continue.
Deepa
No, thank you. Thank you for that. I’m just so used to throwing out things.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
Not explaining them. And just studied the Private Placement Memorandums and ask questions. And as I was doing that–
Rod
You studied the Private Placement Memorandums. Guys, if you ever want to go to sleep, that is a fantastic document for sleep training, is the PPM. That’s really funny. That speaks to your engineering background that you would enjoy that. Sorry, I was interrupting.
Deepa
Thank you. So I actually caught a mistake. Well, it was not a mistake, but the legal team for this particular team had called the asset management fee two different things in two different places, it was the same but you know, they just called it two different things. And I called the General Partner and I go, is it the same thing or are you guys talking about two different fees over here? And they were like, you read this? Like nobody ever bought it up. They’re like, I’m going to talk to our legal team to use the same nomenclature.
Rod
That’s funny. That’s funny. So you invested passively. And so, what did you do to evaluate potential operators to do business with? Talk about that a little bit, because that’s really important. You know, there are a lot of operators out there. I think there’s going to be some pain in this industry coming up and operators that have not been through a pullback, and we’re heading into a pullback in a big way. And so, you know, talk about some of the things that you did to evaluate an operator and evaluate a deal as well before you started investing actively if you would.
Deepa
Yeah, thank you. So the very first thing I want to know is who are the people behind the deal. The numbers come last, but the people and the team, the general partnership team, I want to talk to them at least a couple of times to kind of get a feel for the kind of person they are. And I want to see if they’re throwing out a lot of vague numbers out there.
Rod
A lot of what? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that. What kind of numbers?
Deepa
Sorry, vague numbers.
Rod
Oh, vague, got it. Vague. I just didn’t catch that. Got it. Okay.
Deepa
Yeah, vague numbers. And also if something to see is if you are a good fit with them. Because once you invest, we are locked in for five years or longer.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
So, see if we enjoy talking to them, if they’re the kind of person you enjoy talking to. And ask about the track record, I usually ask about the track record, how many exits, and also, if the GP team had worked together in the past and how many deals they worked together in the past. Because I had an experience as an LP where– this is on my second syndication, I learned to ask this question. But on my– one of the earliest syndications, the GP group, they were relatively new. They all just meet at a conference and said, hey, you know, let’s just start a project together.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
And sometimes people don’t work together. And that was one of the deals where there was a little bit of headbutting and people had to like say, you know what, I’m going to take a step back and we’ll see how it goes. So, I want to know that my GPs are not learning on my dime.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
So before I invest, I find out if they work together, how did it go, and how many projects they worked on together, and if the general gut feeling of do these people know what they are talking about? And do they look like they’ll execute what they are suggesting in the business plan?
Rod
Sure. Sure. Sure. By the way, guys, I’ve got a list of questions that you can get. “Questions To Ask a General Partner Before Investing” in a syndication. If you’ve to text “GP questions” to “72345”, we’ll get this to you. It’s a really nice list of questions that you should ask because, you know, there are a lot of operators that haven’t been through a downturn or haven’t you know, asset managed through a downturn. And, you know, it’s going to require very tight asset management, you know, if occupancies dip and things of that nature. And so, you know, it’s really important to know who you’re going to invest your money with. And I will say one other thing, you know, it’s important to know the business. Like Deepa went to a three-day boot camp. I’ve got a two-day boot camp coming up. I don’t know, this may air after that boot camp, but, you know, I do them every quarter. But why would you invest in something without at least a basic understanding of what it is? Okay? And I don’t care if it’s the stock market, if it’s in businesses, and, you know, certainly but in real estate, you should have some basic understanding. So even if you’re just going to be a passive investor, I highly encourage you to come to my boot camp and get a, you know, really good overview of the business so that you can make, you know, better decisions with your hard-earned money. So now let’s talk about– so, you invested passively, now, when did you make the decision to become a GP and go for it?
Deepa
So I was not even thinking about that as an option.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
But I’m an engineer, and so is my spouse. My husband is an engineer too, and we love entertaining, and we would just throw parties, dinner parties for our other friends and just in conversation, it will come up as, hey, where are you investing? And this is where I’m investing. And I had a lot of my friends wanting to invest in the deals, but these were 506b deals.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
So I reached out to one of the General Partners–
Rod
Okay, stop. Okay, so guys, there are two types of syndications that are most common, 506b and 506c. Now, 506b is what I grew up on. It used to– actually, not even b, what it used to be is they used to call it the three touch rule. And you could only take investors that you had a relationship with and you’d actually talk to at least three times. Now, with the Dodd-Frank Act, they modified it, and you need to have a substantive understanding of their financial– or substantive relationship really is what you need to have to offer a deal on a 506b on that exemption in the SEC rules for syndication. Now, we also have what’s called a 506c, which is what I do. Okay? So that I can talk about it on my podcast. Now, a 506c, you can only take accredited investors, and accredited means you have a net worth of a million dollars without your personal residence, or you make $200,000 a year as a single– with the expectation of it to continue. So, you were in– sorry, I just want to explain the acronyms as you bring them up.
Deepa
Thank you for that.
Rod
No problem. So you’re at dinner parties and you’re doing 506b deals.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
Please continue.
Deepa
506b deals and I reached out to my General Partner and they said, hey, I have my friends who are engineers working at Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and, well, Disney here in Seattle. I’m based in Seattle. And they say, okay, we can’t really accept their money because we don’t know them and they’re your friends. And I go, okay. That’s okay. But I just wanted to bring it up. And that was that. And after a few months, I got a tap on the shoulder saying, hey, you have this network. Do you want to be a GP?
Rod
You’re in the catbird seat with those connections. I will tell you some of my most successful students are the ones that are in your backyard in Seattle and San Francisco and have the connections in the tech world you know because those engineers make a lot of money and they need a place to put it. So, the light bulb went on.
Deepa
Right. Right.
Rod
Okay.
Deepa
And, you know I was like– and this was a phone call. And I go, wait, what do you mean, GP? Like now? And they go, yes, right now. We have the asset under contract. So it was completely random. And I still had my W-2 job. I had no intention of leaving my job at that time.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
I really enjoyed it. I was head of engineering for a company.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
And I was a General Partner for that one. And then–
Rod
What size deal and where?
Deepa
It was a 272-unit.
Rod
Good size deal.
Deepa
The big one. Yeah, in Houston. It was [inaudible]
Rod
Oh, nice.
Deepa
South of Highlands. And I was like, okay, that was a great experience. And right after that closed, in a month or so, I get another call. So by that time, I had invested with two different GP groups, and I get a call from the other GP group saying, hey, we heard you were raising capital. You’re one of our LPs. We have a deal. Do you want to work with us? So I go, oh my God. When it pours– it rains, it pours.
Rod
When it rains, it pours. Right. So let me interject one thing, those of you listening. So you can absolutely raise money for deals, but that cannot be all you do, okay? You must play alternative roles in the syndication. You can’t be a money raiser is what it’s called. The SEC doesn’t allow that unless you license– a series license. So, you have to play a role in the due diligence or, you know, maybe investor relations, although that’s probably not enough. You also need to play a role in the asset management, which I know you do, Deepa, but I just want to flag that for people that are listening, is that, yes, you can raise money for deals and do exactly what she’s doing, but you have to be ingrained in doing some of the other things. And that’s very, very important.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
Thank you. I actually neglected to mention that I was writing the investor reports for both of those assets.
Rod
Nice.
Deepa
And I was there for doing due diligence on both those assets, and I was on asset management calls.
Rod
Yeah. Which is great training, too. I mean, it’s just a great experience for you to, you know, to participate in all that stuff.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
And, you know, when we do a deal, you know, the whole GPT comes out. Does the– in fact, we’re doing one right now in Nashville, a beautiful asset that the whole GPT came out, did the due diligence with us. Each one got assigned things to do as part of the CapEx project because it’s a pretty big renovation stuff that we’re doing.
Deepa
Wow.
Rod
And so somebody’s handling the playground, somebody else is handling the garages. We’re building somebody else’s– handling the cameras and the lighting and so on and so forth. So they’re actively involved. And, you know, they’re on all the asset management calls. We record all the asset management calls. Super important that you do that and everybody plays along and that’s– I mean, yeah, participates, and that mitigates any issues there.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
So let me ask you this. Starting out in your career, you know, doing this exciting business, I think you kind of alluded to a couple of them. The light bulb went off on, you know, being an operator, but were there any other aha moments, you know, any epiphanies as you were doing this business?
Deepa
Yeah, there were a couple that I really enjoyed that I didn’t think I would.
Rod
Okay.
Deepa
Because when I first got tapped on the shoulder, they’re like, because we don’t know what we don’t know when it comes to these roles and what we enjoy until, you know, we experience it.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
Oh, my God, asset management, sounds like a sales gig. And I don’t know. I’m an engineer. I don’t know how much I enjoy, but I just had to– as I spoke to people, these are all my friends and family because I’m not raising–
Rod
Asset management, I’m sorry, or investor relations?
Deepa
Sorry. Not investor relations. Raising capitals.
Rod
Okay. Yeah.
Deepa
Raising capitals. Yeah.
Rod
So you weren’t sure you could do investor relations because you don’t seem like an introvert, but many engineers and IT people are introverts, and you know, but you obviously aren’t because you like to have parties and social activities. My wife doesn’t. It’s kind of funny. My wife is an absolute introvert, so if she could stay in her closet, she’d be thrilled.
Deepa
Really, she’s an introvert. Oh my goodness.
Rod
But you were still concerned about being able to communicate or communicating and, you know.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
Okay. Yeah. That makes sense.
Deepa
Right. Because that’s not something I have done in the past.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
I have spoken to other engineers at work.
Rod
Right. But there’s certainly a sales component to it as well.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
I like to call it influence rather than sales, but that’s really what it is. You have to have the ability to influence.
Deepa
Right. And I actually really love speaking to people and trying to figure out what they need help with and helping them out. And if a syndication is not a good fit for them, I’m happy to tell them, hey, this might not be for you.
Rod
When might it not be a good fit? Do you want to speak to that? Give me an example of when it’s not a good fit.
Deepa
Some people really want their money back faster. They want to be liquid.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
And if you want to be liquid, this is an illiquid asset. We are pulling all our money to buy a hard asset. And you can’t just say, hey, I need my money. I found something better to invest in. That just does not happen.
Rod
Right. That’s the biggest reason, typically. Right?
Deepa
Right.
Rod
It’s the timing. Yeah. Alright.
Deepa
Right. You do your due diligence on the front end, and once you made a decision to invest, you’re locked in.
Rod
Now, I’m going to tell you this, guys, when you’re doing investor relations, I will tell you, sometimes, managing your investors is harder than managing the asset. And if you get somebody that excuses the expression and asks, just say next because life is too short because you’re going to be in bed with them for at least, you know, three to five years. And just trust me on that. Don’t take the money if they’re not fun to communicate with. So, I’m sure– do you agree with that, Deepa?
Deepa
Oh my goodness, yes. While raising capital, as they are interviewing us as General Partners and capital raisers, we are interviewing them to see how easy they are. Some people want to invest. They say, hey, I want to invest, and it’s really not worth your time. They don’t want to get back to you. They’re like, I want to invest. But it’s hard to get a hold of them.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
Some people are just not worth the time and effort. [inaudible]
Rod
Brain damage. Yeah, it’s a no. If they’re unresponsive, if they don’t do what they say they’re going to do, or if they’re just, you know, sometimes they’re just nasty, you know, or they’re asking the, you know, question after question after question and some of them in redundancy sometimes. I mean, yes, they should be asking questions, but it reaches a limit at some point as well.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
So let me– let’s shift gears for a minute. Talk about– you know, I call them seminars. I don’t call them failures but talk about a seminar that you may have had. Maybe not a failure, but a setback. You know you got your nose bloodied specifically in this business and maybe as a GP, even better, or as an LP, either one. But if anything comes to mind when I say that you had a learning experience.
Deepa
Yes.
Rod
Okay.
Deepa
The very first one I already mentioned is I spoke to one of the General Partners, but I did not ask the question as to how old is your group.
Rod
That one.
Deepa
Like how many deals have you [inaudible] together? And in that one, the team did pull together, and even though the main asset manager, who was the main asset manager, they decided it was really not working out for them in this particular team. The other members stepped up to the plate, but it was touch and go for a while.
Rod
[inaudible] Okay.
Deepa
It was touch and go for a while. And, you know, it’s more often apparently than not, as I’m in this business longer and longer to know that property management companies need a lot more hand-holding and when it’s time to give them notice–
Rod
And oversight.
Deepa
And oversight.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
When a task is assigned, you definitely have to follow up and trust but verify.
Rod
We’re into asset management now, guys, and that’s what we’re talking about here because, you know, certainly, you might do the property management yourself, but most of the operators in our space hire third-party property management until they reach a level where they’re big enough if they’re in a region where they can bring it in-house. And I’ve got both. But, you know, so, you know, you’re managing the property manager. And so, what she’s talking about here is, you know, they’re good and bad. And I will tell you, you know what’s crazy? It’s typically not the company. It’s typically the players that are involved. It’s the on-site manager, it’s the regional manager, you know, and how competent they are. You can have a great company, but if the wrong seats are on the bus, then that’s a problem. Would you agree with that?
Deepa
Oh, I completely agree. Yes.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
It’s definitely the individual more than the company. And the company is so big that they can be, you know, individuals they hire that might not really uphold their values.
Rod
Right. And, you know, you really got to keep your finger on the pulse, especially in what’s coming. Okay. Because, you know, I think vacancies are going to increase. Inflation is insane. People, you know, especially in the C-assets. I think we’re going to see some occupancy issues. And so, it’s just critical that on a weekly basis, at the minimum, you are staying on top of occupancy, on renewals, on defaults, you know, on open, you know, work orders and timing on work orders and so on and so forth. Those are called KPIs, guys, Key Performance Indicators. You know every business has them, and certainly, this is what we do as a business.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
So I have a lot of aspiring investors, Deepa, that, you know, listen to my show, they know they want to be you, they want to do what you’re doing, what words of wisdom would you share with someone that, you know, maybe has an IT background even? Or if not, just, you know, it doesn’t matter what the background is. Actually, I don’t even know why I said that, but anybody that wants to do this has not pulled the trigger yet. You know, what would you say to them?
Deepa
Add value. Add value to the [inaudible] group.
Rod
Oh, good answer. You know, I actually wrote that down because you have said to me, even before we started recording, you have said add value four times. Guys, the most successful people on the planet are the ones that add the most value. Okay? Without question. Okay. And when you make that your focus, success is inevitable. And so, what a great answer, Deepa. I’m really impressed with that answer.
Deepa
Oh, thank you.
Rod
And that’s why, literally, I had it written down here before you even brought it up because you’ve said it so many times. I wanted to circle back to it because it really is the secret to success. You know this business is a team sport. And so, when you approach– and, you know, I’ve got students, I’ve got– they’re called Warriors. I’ve got over a thousand around the country. They now own somewhere in excess of 90,000 units that we know of, which I’m very proud of, by the way. I’ve only been teaching for five years, and most of those were done between Warriors. And so, they’re teams, you know, and I tell the new ones when they come in, I say, think about– in fact, I just had a call with one right before this, an electrician who’s got an electrical contracting business. I said, buddy, that is the perfect framework for the asset management side and the due diligence side of this business, because you know, you can look at a property and know what’s going on. So I said, that’s what you want to bring to a team. You know your experience is. And, you know, and when you’re doing what you enjoy, and you hire or align or partner for the things that you don’t enjoy, like maybe– like you’re analytical and you love the analysis. You are one of those mutants that you can throw in a room with a spreadsheet and throw raw meat in once in a while, and you’re happy, right? That’s you, right? Well, not me, okay? I can read a spreadsheet, but I don’t love it. But when you get somebody like you that’s super analytical together with– well, you’re kind of both, though. You’re outgoing as well, but some of the best partnerships I’ve ever seen, or somebody that’s analytical with someone that’s outgoing. And I see that a lot because you know, I interview a lot of operators. And when everybody’s playing to their strengths, boy, again, success is inevitable. So you think about how you can add value to a team and is that kind of what you are alluding to? I hope I didn’t take it off on–
Deepa
It is. No, thank you.
Rod
Okay.
Deepa
That’s exactly what I wanted to say.
Rod
Okay.
Deepa
You know, it is a tough gig to get your foot in the door as a GP, it’s very, very difficult. If the GP group is willing to give up a piece of the pie of equity, we better deserve it.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
And, you know, as a professional civil structural engineer, I thought the value I would be adding is reading through the structural reports or going to do due diligence. And surprisingly, that was not it.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
When I said, when I was trying to like get my foot in the door and trying to add value, the most obvious is my civil engineering background. And I have a stamp, I have a license, and I go, hey, I’m happy to just on my dime, come up to the asset and do due diligence. And the reply I got was–
Rod
Structural analysis. Right?
Deepa
Yes.
Rod
Yeah, sure. Right.
Deepa
The reply I got was, oh, that’s so cute, no thank you.
Rod
Ouch. Okay.
Deepa
Because they wanted to hire somebody that has a license that is bonded and insured. And they did not want to take an LP because I was an LP at that time, an LPs word for it, even though I’m a qualified civil structural engineer. So I kept adding– I kept asking, in every conversation, I would listen for pain points and say, where can I add value? And at one point, I was talking to my GP, and they were having trouble with spreadsheets and a dashboard, and they had a Pivot Table. Without going into a lot of details, they had a Pivot Table that they were having trouble why– it was a tracker as to how many units were renovated, and they could not get it to work. And Pivot Tables are difficult to get to work to debug.
Rod
Yeah. She’s talking about inside of Excel, guys. Okay.
Deepa
Excel. Right.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
In Excel. And I was like, okay, you know what? You might not even know the difference once I write the formula and make it look exactly the same, and we could debug much easier than in a Pivot Table. And I kept on adding value, and it took me three years of adding value to get to a place. And the very first or a couple of times I got asked to be a GP, I did not ask what the compensation was going to be. I was like, I will take it on and pay me whatever you– it might not be good advice for people out there, but that’s what I did, is I’m just ready to learn.
Rod
Yeah. No, guys, I would actually not do that only because unfortunately, you’ll find people that take advantage of it.
Deepa
I agree.
Rod
It’s good to negotiate that upfront, although sometimes it’s difficult, particularly if the equity raises a component of it because you know, sometimes the people– and we see it all the time, you know, in this Nashville asset, some of the people that are committed to raising certain amounts aren’t you know, haven’t gotten there yet. And so, you know, but it is important to try to negotiate that upfront and really negotiate as much as you can upfront. That brings to mind something else that just happened today on that particular asset. So let me ask you this. Do you have any favorite stories from this business and it can relate to any part of the business, a tenant story, you know, a lender story, anything that you enjoy when you’re just having a cocktail, talking to people about the business, any favorite story?
Deepa
Oh, yeah, definitely. A whole bunch.
Rod
Okay.
Deepa
During asset management calls, a lot of things come up. And without going into details on B-class assets.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
If we had a tenant who really needed a property, a unit, really fast because they were due and they were expecting a child.
Rod
Oh, wow.
Deepa
You know, we were like, okay, when do you need this property by? And they were like, we did not have any vacant ready at that time. We did not have any units that were vacant that they could just move in.
Rod
Get ready to go.
Deepa
Right. And just by being in the network, we had multiple sister assets and we were able to get this person in one of the units before their due date.
Rod
Oh, that’s nice.
Deepa
And it usually, you know, does not happen if you don’t have sister assets nearby.
Rod
Right.
Deepa
There are no vacant ready on your asset and there are no other units, then, you know, just say, no thank you, but you just need to come back. And there are some other calls too, where we’re like, hey, we had a pipe burst. And there were some bad aspects of it too. You get a call saying, hey, we had a pipe burst or the water bill this month is like nine grand over last month. So we’re like, okay, what’s going on? And just dig deeper into that. It’s just a variety of aspects and stories that we get to hear on asset management calls.
Rod
Sure. Sure. And guys, that’s one of the things you do is you look for anomalies like that. You know you look at the P&L. You look at the expenses, and you know, if you see, you know, a dip or an increase, you know, that’s the kind of stuff you really want to dig into. So, we’re winding down here. But, you know, everybody thinks that– well, I shouldn’t say that, but certainly, you know there are sacrifices you have to make. I don’t know if you have children. Do you have children?
Deepa
I do.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
A [inaudible] year-old boy.
Rod
Okay. So there are sacrifices that you have to make to get into this business. Talk about that. What, if anything, you had to sacrifice to do this? Do you still have your full-time engineering role as well?
Deepa
No, I don’t. I don’t.
Rod
Oh, you don’t?
Deepa
No.
Rod
Okay. You retired from that. Good for you.
Deepa
Yeah, I did. Well, it was not by choice. I was laid off during the pandemic.
Rod
Oh, wow. Okay. You just decided not to go back and just focus on this.
Deepa
Yes.
Rod
That’s fortuitous if you ask me.
Deepa
Yes, and I had about 400 units as a General Partner by then. And instead of just going back, I decided you know, I put my heart and soul into this job, my full-time job, and I really loved it. And within just, like, a few minutes in a meeting, I was unemployed.
Rod
Wow.
Deepa
They were like, hey, we’re deciding to shut down the whole engineering team. And I was head of engineering at that time. Without an engineering team, they didn’t need a head of engineer. So just like that, it was gone. And I go, okay, I don’t ever want to be in that position again, because I already had this springboard. I just decided to do that and do this full-time. And talking about sacrifices–
Rod
Hold on, before you move on, I want to hear sacrifices, but as far as I’m concerned, that was a gift.
Deepa
It was.
Rod
I hope you look at it like that.
Deepa
Yes.
Rod
Okay. All right. Sacrifices.
Deepa
Yeah. So, sacrifices, you know, we have only so much time, and we really have to– if we are deciding– so, Rod, you and I, we are deciding to do this right now beyond this webinar record the podcast, we are actively choosing not to do something else, spend time with family or, you know, work on something. So sacrifices, how much of time do you want to spend? And instead of watching TV, do you want to read a PPM? I know it’s not a fair trade but–
Rod
It actually is very informative, and I would encourage you to actually do suffer your way through one.
Deepa
Right.
Rod
In fact, I’ll give you another resource. I’ve got a book about syndication here, let me just grab it. My book is up here now. Yeah. “Guide to Multifamily Syndications”. I believe you text the word “syndication” to “72345”. If that doesn’t work, DM me on any social channel. But this actually has a PPM in it. Okay? You can see how thick it is. It actually has a redacted PPM in it. But again, we’re talking about adding value. These are some of the books I’ve written. This is about half of them. You know, I live by that motto as well, which is why I was so impressed by the fact that you brought that up.
Deepa
That is amazing.
Rod
But anyways, back to sacrifices. I think I cut you off.
Deepa
Sacrificing sleep. So I had a full-time job when I was LP when I started investing. And my job, I had a group of engineers that I was managing and property manager, and at that time a three-year-old or two-year-old, I can’t remember how old my son was. And the only time I could actually sit down and concentrate, focus, and read something, was from midnight to five in the morning.
Rod
Wow.
Deepa
And I would get up at midnight, and because I read through every PPM a few times, like three or four times, and some of them were 200 pages, and I was like, okay. And why until 5:00? Because I was the only engineer for all of North America and my phone would start ringing at 08:00 Eastern time, and I am on the Pacific Coast. So 05:00 my time.
Rod
Wow.
Deepa
So, just to get enough sleep from 9:00 to 12:00.
Rod
Wow, and you’d still be able to spend time with your boy?
Deepa
Yes, that was the highest priority.
Rod
Yeah, good.
Deepa
I have only one boy. I better spend time with them.
Rod
Yeah.
Deepa
And just get him situated, get him to bed, and after he goes to sleep, then I’m actively choosing not to spend time with my husband, watch TV or whatever, you know, sit down and chat about a movie or read a book. But those have to be done. It’s a trade-off. What do we want to do today to build our vision for tomorrow in the future?
Rod
Yeah. Well, I will tell you, and I talk about this at my boot camp. You know, one of the things I train there is a weekly planning process where you time block and you prioritize and so on and so forth. It’s very powerful. It’s how I was able to manage two large companies at the same time. And I tell the story. My biggest regret in life was coming home to my kids. And I would play with them, but I wasn’t there mentally, I was distracted. I was solely focused on, you know, proving to the world you know, that I mattered. And it’s my greatest regret to this day, my kids will say I was a great dad, but I didn’t live up to my own expectations. And, you know, that’s why, you know, I spend a lot of time on that with my students as well, because I make that very, very clear that you know, what’s most important. Well, anyway, listen, Deepa, it’s been a real treat to meet you and to have you on the show and to have you share your wisdom and your story. And I really appreciate you coming on spend a little time with me.
Deepa
Oh, thank you for the opportunity, Rod. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Thank you so much.
Rod
Thank you. All right, take care.
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 non-stop 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”.
