Fall in Love with Profits, Not Properties: Real Estate Advice from Rameez Chaudhri

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In this conversation, Rameez Chaudhri shares his journey into the real estate industry, detailing his transition from a background in banking to becoming a realtor and real estate investor. He discusses the importance of hands-on experience, mentorship, and the lessons learned from his first deals. Rameez also provides insights into managing properties remotely and offers advice for novice investors looking to navigate the real estate market. He highlights current opportunities in waterfront properties and emphasizes the need to focus on profits rather than emotional attachments to properties.

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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

Dylan Silver (00:01.516)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest is a Florida based realtor investor loan originator who brings a well rounded perspective to the real estate space. Please welcome Rameez Chaudhri. Rameez, welcome to the show.

Rameez Chaudhri (00:17.179)
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Dylan Silver (00:20.396)
I always like to start off at the top by asking folks how they got into the real estate space.

Rameez Chaudhri (00:26.637)
Mine is a funny one, which usually happens with most of the people, HGTV. I wanted to be a flipper. like, it can’t be that hard. So I started my real estate investment company before having any idea of how real estate works. And then I realized that either realtors will not show up or if they would show up, they would keep on pushing the properties to me. So.

I was like, this does not make sense. How can every property be the property for me? So I’m like, let me just get my license. It can’t be that hard. So I got my license and then I sold my very first house. I sold it to a friend of mine and I really enjoyed the process. So that’s how I ventured out into the real estate realtor world. So that’s how it all started. Then got the ball rolling with investments and got my license as a loan originator. So all of those things that.

Dylan Silver (00:57.868)
Right.

Dylan Silver (01:21.612)
So you are someone who seems just passionate about the real estate space. You found something that you enjoy doing and can make a living doing it. It’s the best of both worlds.

Rameez Chaudhri (01:32.833)
It really is. I have a background in banking. used to be on Wall Street. And then I was doing some fintech stuff before getting into real estate. And you always thought that, you know, I always had a W-2 job and, you know, money was great, but you always were.

you know, the paycheck needs to come in and then you figure out what you’re gonna do with it. And I was like, I was just tired and I was burnt out. I did not wanna do the Wall Street scene anymore. And I just didn’t know what else to do. So I’m like, let me just start. I’m still young and if I don’t do well, I can always go back. Thank God I did really well and thank God I enjoyed it a lot. So I didn’t have to go back. And…

My goal was that I’ll make my own hours, whatever that means. So now I work all day long, but I love it.

Dylan Silver (02:27.566)
As it happens right I want to pivot a bit here Ramiz and ask you about going from being

investment world to then going to become a realtor and then going into real estate investing and what that process was like, specifically getting into real estate investing. Did you have mentors? Did you learn from online, from books, or was it in a lot of ways getting your first deal and learning from there?

Rameez Chaudhri (03:00.133)
So it was a little bit of all of those above things. I went to a seminar. It was an hour long seminar where they talked about wholesaling and flipping. And I did not know anything about that space at all. Once that seminar was over, they then pitch you to a three day seminar. And I went to that three day seminar. And when you had that three day seminar, they pitch you.

their $40,000 or whatever that was, forgot how much it was, package where they tell you how everything is going to work out. And I was not ready to spend that kind of money. I was not ready to commit to that kind of money. So I had buyer’s remorse for a good three, four weeks. And I’m like, man, I should have done it, this and that, yada, yada, yada. So I started reading up on it, you know, listen to some podcasts, started reading, you know, following some people around and figuring it out. The real…

Dylan Silver (03:31.907)
Right.

Rameez Chaudhri (03:56.875)
game changer really was when I got my real estate license. When I got my license and I started understanding the process of the transaction and then the tax benefit of real estate investment, I really, really, really got interested in it. And one of my mentors, who is my team leader as well, and he owns a bunch of properties and he does this all the time as well, he really

Dylan Silver (04:01.4)
Yeah.

Rameez Chaudhri (04:26.309)
help me out with all my questions that I had. But you really learn, it’s like on the job learning, I would say, you know, have to get your hands dirty. You have to get your hands dirty. The very first deal that I got, which I wanted to flip and then hold for long term, I’ve put all my money in it. And I’m like, you know what? I’m just gonna do this by myself because how hard can it be? Stupidest idea. Took me five months to do it.

Dylan Silver (04:34.657)
It is.

Rameez Chaudhri (04:54.235)
I wasted more money and time in doing it than I would have if I would have gotten somebody else involved who knew what they were doing. So thank God the deal was a good deal. The numbers made sense, so I was able to do it. But now I sub out everything. I just find the deal. I just put the money in it, and then I sub out.

Dylan Silver (05:02.232)
Right. Yeah.

Dylan Silver (05:15.926)
Was the interest in real estate investing there from the beginning and becoming a realtor was a vehicle to unlock that? Or was it when you became a realtor you were thinking I’m gonna go be a realtor and then the investing took a back seat? Or was it always investing?

Rameez Chaudhri (05:35.043)
It was always investing. It was always investing. I did get a little disheartened in the beginning before I got my realtor license. And I’m like, man, this is too hard. I don’t know how to build a house. I don’t know anything about a house. And this is going to be an issue for me. So I had just moved from New York City to Florida. So I did not have contacts in Florida as well. So that was another hindrance. Real estate, getting my real estate license was

to me at that time, a means to an end. I was gonna get my license so that I can somehow get access to all of these off-market properties that everybody was talking about. And I’ll make ones, have that, and I’ll have everything, and I’ll be able to do it. So that’s why I did it. I just enjoyed being a realtor part so much that I still do it full-time.

Dylan Silver (06:27.48)
What were your first couple of deals in the investment space like? You mentioned the fix and hold deal.

Rameez Chaudhri (06:33.539)
Yeah, so the very first one was a short sale right off the MLS. It was a cash deal. It was in Clearwater, a single-family home, 3-2. Somebody had passed in the house and the house needed new roof and then all lipstick. And I did not know what a short sale is at that time. COVID had just started.

So it was fun times. So that was my first deal. I bought it with cash. I want to say I spent like 30, 35,000 in updating the place. New kitchen, new bathroom, paint, floor, new AC, new electrical circuit. And I put all of that on a credit card.

I had a 0 % credit card, so put all of that on there. And then I rented it out. And it rented out for a good amount of money. I then refinanced it for basically like a burn method and pulled out my money.

Dylan Silver (07:32.653)
Yeah.

And so did you do another one after that?

Rameez Chaudhri (07:37.915)
Yes, yes, so I have done a total of 11 now.

Dylan Silver (07:43.914)
Okay, okay, so this would be, I would say, fix, buy, and hold strategy or BRRRR method, right? Have you looked at any of the other strategies and what was it for you that said, okay, this is the one that I wanna go with versus fix and flip or versus subject to wraps or versus any of the others?

Rameez Chaudhri (08:03.307)
I have not gotten into the subject to wrap. I got really comfortable with fix and flips and they were working off for me. So I continued doing that. I have done a few straight up buy-in holes. I’ve done those as well where you did not need to do the burr method or add value to the project. I am however currently working on one project right now where I am doing the burr method. But that’s basically what I’ve done.

Dylan Silver (08:32.395)
Now, were these all kind of in the same regional area in Florida? Were they all over Florida? Are you also looking at deals outside of the area?

Rameez Chaudhri (08:42.683)
Most of my deals are in Florida. I do own one in up in New Jersey and I bought a condo in St. Thomas Virgin Island. So I have that as well. That one, that one is a little bit more. So that one started off, I bought it maybe like three years ago. That one started off as a short-term rental.

Dylan Silver (08:56.149)
Okay.

Rameez Chaudhri (09:10.381)
and it was doing good. And then they turned it, we turned it into a midterm rental and then it was vacant for a few months. And then I decided to sell it. And when it’s really hard to get mortgages in the islands. So yeah. So the person came up to me and he’s like, Hey, would you do seller financing? And I spoke to my partner and we did seller financing. And we’ve sold it to him eight months ago.

Dylan Silver (09:23.822)
Yeah.

Rameez Chaudhri (09:40.008)
and we just found out that we are getting it back. So that’s the…

Dylan Silver (09:45.336)
There you go. Now you got the property back on the Virgin Islands, right?

Rameez Chaudhri (09:49.625)
That’s the beauty of seller financing.

Dylan Silver (09:52.684)
I want to ask you about managing these deals at distance, right? So you have the deal over there, US Original Islands, you have the deal in New Jersey. Are these annual leases, are they short-term rentals or were they? And how are you managing that while being in Florida?

Rameez Chaudhri (10:10.295)
So the one in New Jersey is a long-term rental.

And I do have a property manager that manages it. I did that for like the first year or so. Ever since then, I’ve stopped using the property manager and I am managing it myself. Almost like an Ella Card kind of service. So I have a contractor there and I have a handyman there. So if something is needed, I can always send them out and then not have their extra fee tacked on top of my.

Dylan Silver (10:24.152)
Yeah.

Dylan Silver (10:40.174)
Thank

Rameez Chaudhri (10:41.613)
my cash flow. So I’m doing that over there. In the Virgin Islands, when I was doing short term rental, I had a full time short term rental property manager that was managing it. And now that it is, you know, was owned by somebody else, we didn’t have to.

Dylan Silver (10:58.798)
I want to ask you about your advice for folks who may be looking at doing this type of thing, remote investing or managing things from a distance. Do you have any advice for folks who may be looking at that and saying, well, this is my first time I’m buying a property in Texas or Florida and I’m living in New Jersey, how do I go about this?

Rameez Chaudhri (11:20.901)
So the biggest thing that was like, you need to have a change of mentality when you’re doing this, especially for people that are just starting off. That was my biggest hurdle, I feel like. Once that flip clicked in my head, everything started making sense. You have to fall in love with profits, not properties. When you buy a property, you think that, my God, I saved so much money for this, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. And if the tenant puts a scratch on the wall,

then you lose your temper. It’s a business. It’s a business. You’re running a business. They’re paying you. As long as the numbers make sense, shut up and collect the money. That’s what my opinion is. And it has done wonders for me. Fall in love with profits, not properties. You can do it. It is a little bit more time consuming when you’re doing it by yourself and you’re not in that state or not in that area.

If you’re a novice investor who’s just starting off, I know money is very important and you are trying to look at that bottom line because that’s what everyone else is looking at and you want to put as much of the money as possible from that cash flow. It might be a good idea to get somebody on board who knows what they’re doing at least for a year and a half so that you can learn from them. But you have to pick that person or that company wisely because

Dylan Silver (12:40.557)
Yeah.

Rameez Chaudhri (12:47.405)
Unfortunately, a lot of us who have all this, you know, knowledge are not very open about it. They for some reason feel that the pie is not big enough. And I always say that the pie is big enough for all of us, just because today I had two slices and you did not have any, does not mean that I took your slice. Because it’s big enough for all of

Dylan Silver (12:54.358)
Yeah.

Dylan Silver (13:09.646)
I want to ask you about what type of deals you’re looking at these days. Are you looking at other single family deals? Are you looking at short term? What type of deals are you looking at right now? What’s something that maybe you’re seeing as a big opportunity?

Rameez Chaudhri (13:22.011)
We are looking in my area, know area if you’re looking at a B, C plus B neighborhood like that kind of area is doing really well in rentals. So buy and hold. So I’m looking at a lot of that.

There is, and a lot of people are going to get scared about this, but in my area there is a huge, huge opportunity at waterfront properties right now. Amazing opportunity at waterfront properties. You can be buying them pennies on a dollar. People are still hungover about, you know, the last storms that we hit and did a number on our coast. And because of that, a lot of people are leaving and you can buy those properties, amazing, amazing deals.

Dylan Silver (13:57.518)
Hmm.

Rameez Chaudhri (14:10.877)
Some of them could be short-term rentals. Some of them could be own dream home. A lot of people want to live on the water. They just can’t afford it. this is an amazing time to do that.

Dylan Silver (14:17.934)
this room.

Ramiz, we are coming up on time here. Where can folks go if they’d maybe like to learn more about your business or maybe if they’re looking at opportunities for investment down there in Florida?

Rameez Chaudhri (14:32.715)
Absolutely. You can call me, text me at my cell which is 917-577-3407. You can also look me up on Instagram at Dylan Silver (00:01.516)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest is a Florida based realtor investor loan originator who brings a well rounded perspective to the real estate space. Please welcome Rameez Chaudhri. Rameez, welcome to the show.