How Bobby Ahmed Turned Struggle Into a Real Estate Investing Success

Share via:

• Facebook
• X (Twitter)
• LinkedIn
• More

Subscribe via:

Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds interviews Bobby Ahmed, a passionate real estate investor who shares his journey from humble beginnings to managing multiple rental properties and flips. Bobby discusses the driving force behind his real estate career, the challenges he faces in the current market, and his future goals of scaling to multi-unit properties. He emphasizes the importance of knowledge, relationships, and the lessons learned through experience in the real estate industry.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • Bobby Ahmed’s Email: [email protected]
    • Bobby Ahmed’s Phone Number:(917)497-3472

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Bobby Ahmed (00:00)
  a big chunk of my life, you know, several years I ended up living in a house that was under

  We ended up living in a tin shed house for about…

  four years of my life at least. there were mold growing in the house. We were very, very embarrassed to call in relatives and friends to see us at the house.

  that feeling stayed with me.

  when I sort of

  left New York, quit my corporate job. I felt I needed to start a business, but I didn’t know what business to start because I had no background of business itself. So I thought I should just start something that I’m really passionate about. And I felt like providing a safe house, a good looking house, decent house for a family to live in that they can afford really what drive me.

  Quentin (02:26)
  Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I have your host, Q Edmonds. Y’all know, super excited by now. Y’all know it’s my tagline. But I am, I’m super excited and I’m super excited about my guest. Man, I’m gonna let him tell a name of his business for himself. But the name is so touching. His story is touching. Kind of how he got into real estate, how he got the passion and…

  Again, you know, I’m hoping he’s going to tell it. told me, I’m hoping he’s going to tell it, y’all, but it’s just, it’s a beautiful story and it really highlights why he’s so passionate about what he do, what is drive and actually the people that he served and the community that he serves. And so I’m just super excited to introduce you guys to Mr. Ahmed. How you doing today, sir?

  Bobby Ahmed (03:10)
  I’m good Quentin now. Thanks for having me and to be here

  Quentin (03:15)
  Absolutely.

  No, man, it’s great having you. You know, we’ve been talking a little bit backstage and I’m excited for our listeners. I’m excited that they get to peek through your lens. And so I don’t want to, I don’t want to take up any more time with me talking. I want to dive in about you. I want you to take our listeners, viewers into your world. Tell us what your main focus is these days and also tell us what markets are you operating in?

  Bobby Ahmed (03:40)
  Well, my main focus really is basically myself and the family, just the well-being. That’s really is the main focus. But apart from that, I’m passionate about real estate investments. And I’ve been a real estate investor since 2017 at least. I started off my journey in ⁓ just owning one rental property here in Northern Virginia in a city called Lorton.

  and doing some small fix and flip business in Maryland, in Baltimore, Maryland. So that’s where I started. And ⁓ I’m still doing the same, just probably a little bit more on a vast scale. From one property, I’m able to scale to 13 rental properties here in Northern Virginia. And I’ve done over 15 flips in…

  Baltimore, Maryland. So, you know, so that’s been my journey so far. I enjoy doing all this. I own and manage, self-manage all these properties. There are no, you know, outside help other than the contractors and maybe an accountant, but I love, I do it because I love to do it really. And that’s what, you know, drives me.

  ⁓ into real estate. I’m necessarily not for the money, just not for the money. It’s just I get a different kick. Because I feel real estate is highly analytical. You got to make the right moves at the right time. It’s competitive and that’s really what gets me going.

  Quentin (05:56)
  Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I kind of tease the audience, but I don’t want to make you do nothing that you don’t want to do. But if you’re open to it, man, I would love for you to let them know the name, the story behind it. And also, maybe if you want to talk about your dad and how he played the role and you getting into the bit. Now, again, it’s up to you, but I would love to hear it. You know, Bill, sir. Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (06:18)
  Well, I’m from, know,

  I’m from real estate because I’m passionate about real estate. It’s because

  a big chunk of my life, you know, several years I ended up living in a house that was under

  You know,

  None of my parents or any member of my family comes from real estate. They’re not from business background. They’re just very middle class, nine to five people. And my father decided to, when we were probably seven, seven or eight or nine years old, buy a piece of land and try to build a house.

  And he had no clue about how much their house would cost or the cost of labor and materials would be, how to pay contractors, where to look for contractors, where to get specialized help. But he just bought the land and he just decided to, his intentions were good. He wanted to put the family in a nice house, but it didn’t turn out that way.

  We ended up living in a tin shed house for about…

  four years of my life at least. there were mold growing in the house. We were very, very embarrassed to call in relatives and friends to see us at the house.

  that sort of stayed with me as I grew up, but eventually we did get moved up into a decent apartment. But

  that feeling stayed with me.

  And

  when I sort of

  left New York, quit my corporate job. I felt I needed to start a business, but I didn’t know what business to start because I had no background of business itself. So I thought I should just start something that I’m really passionate about. And I felt like providing a safe house, a good looking house, decent house for a family to live in that they can afford really what drive me.

  in beginning and it still drives me. So if I’m able to build a house where I’m able to you know let a family in and you know they have a nice comfortable living you know that’s what makes my day really. You know just to give an example I’ve done some flips and I’ve also sold properties here in Northern Virginia. I really rarely sell

  my properties to investors. I sell them, I try to sell them to first time home buyers. ⁓ You know, I help them get city grants if they’re low on funds. I even help them get loans, get qualified, because now I’ve established a dozen mortgage brokers really. And ⁓ I help them with their paperwork. So my goal has always been to give

  Quentin (08:43)
  Yeah. ⁓

  Bobby Ahmed (09:36)
  you know, housing to people who really needs it. So, yeah, that’s been, that’s been, you know, my, my drive for getting into real estate to begin with.

  Quentin (09:39)
  Yeah.

  Absolutely. No, I love it, man. So I love it. Thank you for taking us down the road to where your drive is. How your drive got started, kind of motivated you. And now, you know, you’re doing fix and flips in Baltimore. You’ve done fix and flips in Baltimore. 13 rental properties and VA. You’re a man on a mission. You’re not necessarily motivated by the money, but by the numbers. And so I guess my question is.

  That’s not always easy, right? In this climate, you and I talked about, you know, the market shifting is always something’s going on. So what’s been the key to keeping that machine of you, because you know, you’re doing it yourself. What’s been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly?

  Bobby Ahmed (10:24)
  Well, I think the key is, you know, it’s a couple of things. You know, first of all, it’s the key is really the drive, you know, for somebody when the chips are down, you know, when the macroeconomics of a business of any business is really doing well. It’s great to be a businessman in that environment. But when the chips are down, like we have now and. ⁓

  more so in the last couple of years, where interest rates were high, less and less people were qualifying for a mortgage. You had inflation where building materials would cost a lot more than what you had anticipated. It’s a difficult environment, right? So what keeps you going, number one, is the knowledge.

  you know, when you acquire enough knowledge about a problem really, you sort of find the, you should have, you find a niche, you find ways to resolve it, you know, whether it could be, for instance, I’ll give an example. If you see a good property that seems like a good fix and flip, but you’re not qualifying for loan.

  because interest rates are high and it doesn’t make sense for a bank to give you a loan. There’s financing, there’s hard money lenders, there are owner financing, right? So there are options that you discover as you go along, only if you keep your eyes open, get enough knowledge.

  You know, I might not have attended any of these podcasts, but I can tell you, look at the dozens of podcasts in real estate all the time. And a lot of the things I feel are nonsense, but one or two things that they talk about, just light bulb just goes on and you research on that, you know? So, but that would only happen if you’re truly interested, if you’re truly motivated when chips are down.

  Quentin (12:10)
  Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (12:17)
  So that’s why I say is, you know, go out there, gain enough knowledge and I’ll tell you, you know, the best way to learn is really not through books or podcasts or just talking. The best way to learn is really just to do it by yourself. Even if you fail, you would have just learned so much just by, you know, doing the transaction, however small it might be, just by doing transactions. I think people learn a lot.

  Quentin (12:39)
  Yeah.

  Absolutely. No, absolutely loving man. And so to that point, I want to ask you this because you talked about doing the transaction, you learn a lot and you see a lot. You have to take on the burden of the risks and you have to face adversity. And so with that in mind, there’s moment when things get real. Maybe a deal goes sideways or a time when you have to pivot fast.

  within your journey, have you had stories like that where something kind of fell apart and you had to fast?

  Bobby Ahmed (13:15)
  Well, I’ve had hardships, it hasn’t come down to that where some things really fall apart. I’ll tell you one of the reasons why is, it’s just very easy to say to somebody that, you gotta do your analysis right. But that really means a lot. When you do your analysis, you’ve gotta have plan A or B, what are you gonna fall back on? You have to anticipate what happens if,

  things go wrong. instance, I’ll give you examples. know, contractors, know, when we’re rehabbing properties, dealing with contractors is really very critical. You know, ⁓ the way to pay contractors are very important. You just don’t pay them what they ask you. You know, there’s something called percentage of completion.

  That’s a big topic in any accountants out there with no percentage of completion method, meaning you pay a contractor as they perform their task, right? So if you think they performed 20%, you don’t pay 20%, you pay 15%. Because you need to have the contractor be liable always for, it’s almost like you have to owe them a lot.

  you know, or else they might just quit the job and they might leave. So I’ve realized that and I’ve had contractors leave jobs in the middle, leave jobs in the middle, you know, of a project. But so what happens is you have to line up contractor B, C, and D who would just be able to come and finish the job. But because you haven’t paid the contractor,

  Quentin (14:29)
  You okay?

  Bobby Ahmed (14:50)
  To the extent that he has done the job. You have left a little margin. You’re not losing money at the back end of the project So you got to sort of like anticipate that You know if you just simply pay them what they ask you and the person leaves the job And a new contractor has to come in and pick up his slack You probably lose money at the end of the project

  So contractors leaving the job, yes it has happened, but I’m just using this as an example ⁓ because I’ve anticipated that he or she might just not be there till the end of the project. I have not lost the money and I would encourage other people to look into the percentage of completion method while paying contractors. various things like that.

  Quentin (15:22)
  Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (15:40)
  Like this one project that I’m here in Baltimore, I purchased it. It’s a rehab project for 2022. I purchased it. The market was not as bad. And I thought I would, you know, sell it at a certain price. It’s not selling at that price. So I’m not taking a huge profit, but you know, just barely breaking that breaking even with it. So, you know, that’s a hardship that I’m facing as of now, but I’m not going underwater.

  of XYZ reasons of always having a backup plan. So I think that’s important in real estate. One of the other thing is, you if somebody has to really learn real estate by making a lot of errors, it’s very expensive. Real estate errors are very, very expensive. You also have a very capital intensive, you know, business and you better not make a lot of

  Quentin (16:08)
  Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (16:30)
  errors by losing money. So I would just say folks out there just be mindful of that. You know these are some of the quirks that I’ve picked up over the years.

  Quentin (16:40)
  know, that’s an excellent perspective, excellent nuggets that you’re given. That’s really good. I hear from so many people, lot of their pain points is dealing with these contractors. And so, yeah, that was definitely good food for thought. Let me ask you this. What are you most focused on, sovereign or scaling next? What is the next real goal for you?

  Bobby Ahmed (17:02)
  You know, I feel like because I’m managing a lot of these single family properties myself, it can be challenging and there’s something called the economies of scale. So that being the focus in the future, I would like to take all these properties and like just go into multi units really. ⁓

  Quentin (17:22)
  watching.

  Bobby Ahmed (17:23)
  just you know what the economies of scale provides you know just basically taking all your investments into you know one or two buildings is what I’m looking at because you know if you have for instance 13 properties you’re going to have 13 insurance policies you could have 13 roofs to fix right you have probably multiply that by three you know toilets

  to fix it, they broke down. So just by consolidating everything, I think that makes a little bit more sense. But multi-unit again, just, it’s not a single family there, it’s got its own challenges. But I feel like it’s sort of like a stepping up, it’s like graduating to another level.

  Quentin (17:48)
  Yeah.

  Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (18:05)
  Once you have had enough single family experience of getting into multi-family, it’s a natural progression is what I

  Quentin (18:53)
  Let me just ask you this. think this is going to be kind of winding down to a couple more questions. This may be the next to last.

  But I know people that’s listening, they’re early on their journey. Some of them could be, or they could be looking to level up. And I think they have benefit from hearing this. And I’m very interested to hear your perspective on this. But when it comes to relationships and building your network, how has relationships had the biggest impact on you?

  Bobby Ahmed (19:18)
  ⁓ man, I gotta be honest,

  Quentin (19:20)
  Uh-huh. That’s

  why I said I want to hear your perspective on this.

  Bobby Ahmed (19:25)
  Listen, building relationships and network is probably very important. But it hasn’t gone very well for me. One is, know, look, I’m 50 years old right now. I probably know a little bit about myself. I’m not a very people person, to be very honest. I’m not a very people person. I’ve always been like that. I’ve always been media shy. I’ve always been people shy.

  Quentin (19:34)
  Got you.

  Mm, mm, mm-hmm.

  Bobby Ahmed (19:50)
  Not very people person. So and I didn’t build a lot of relationships. I didn’t build a lot of networks. I relied mostly on myself and my you know, just knowledge and studying the market and you know, but I would encourage people to build relationships. Yes.

  but let’s not make that the sole focus. I feel like building relationships is probably either your appetizer or your dessert. The meat and potato is really for you to go out there and do it. Just jump in. That’s, I think, is the key. Just owning your fear is the key.

  Quentin (20:19)
  Absolutely.

  Bobby Ahmed (20:39)
  So, but you know, once you’ve done some trades, some transactions, you will meet people along the way and let your natural instincts take over. If you are a people person, if you are a building relationship kind of a person, you like to go to seminars by all means, but for all the folks out there who are not really, you know, very

  savvy out there as far as meeting people. It’s not the end of the world. You can still grow, you can still scale. I think it’s a natural progression for somebody to build relationship. So I would say, you do get a lot of good knowledge, a lot of good perspective if you have a good network of friends or family or business associates.

  You do do that, but again, you have to take that knowledge and apply it.

  Quentin (21:35)
  Yeah. Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (21:36)
  So that’s my take on that.

  Quentin (21:38)
  Absolutely, absolutely. And I love your take. I love how you said, let it be the appetizer of the dessert. It doesn’t have to be the meat and potatoes. I love that because you didn’t just throw it away altogether. You saying, no, it’s part of the experience. It may not just be the whole thing. And that’s just dependent on how you are and how you’re wired. But I understand and I’m with you because I get what you mean, believe it or not, in so many different facets.

  And you left room to understand that the connection is important. Like whatever deal we’re in, whatever business or industry we in, we as people are going to have to connect. There’s a buyer, there’s a seller, you know, there’s an investor, there is a partnership that has to happen somewhere, but it doesn’t have to be the end all be all. And I understand exactly what you mean in the way that you presented it. So listen, Mr. Bobby, this has been great. Listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you,

  connect with you. It’s funny saying this because now I’m missing my cheek with these connections. But I’m still going to ask it. Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (22:38)
  No, no, sure. By all means. mean, if somebody were to reach out

  to me, I’d be very, very happy to cater to them. ⁓ I would be really looking forward. I love really sharing what I know, you know, because, you know, nobody takes anything to their grave, okay? Whether it be money or knowledge or your property or, you

  Quentin (22:48)
  Yeah.

  Absolutely.

  Bobby Ahmed (23:01)
  nobody’s gonna take anything into your grip. It’s just good that you pass on and let somebody do even better than you. Because what happens when somebody does better than you, that person is probably helping 10 more people.

  Quentin (23:06)
  Absolutely.

  Yeah, absolutely.

  Yeah, there you go. Absolutely.

  Bobby Ahmed (23:18)
  ⁓ So I feel like the world

  Quentin (23:18)
  Yeah. Yeah.

  Bobby Ahmed (23:20)
  is a better place when people share knowledge. you know, by all means, if somebody were to reach out to me, Quentin, I don’t know if you have my cell phone number, you probably do. Yeah, just feel free.

  Quentin (23:29)
  Yeah. But then do me a favor.

  Just give them any information you want the listeners to have if they want to contact with you. Give them any information now so we have it on on camera. You know how they can reach out to you.

  Bobby Ahmed (23:42)
  Yeah,

  reach me, you know, I’ll give you my cell phone is a you know number I’ll give you 917-497-3472. It’s a New York number. It’s been there for decades and you know, I don’t want to change it. My email address, I’m going to spell it out to you. It’s h-a-m-e-e-d-h-6 @ hotmail.com.

  I don’t entertain a lot of people in Facebook. I do have a Facebook account, but it’s just basically for my family and very, very close friends. I don’t have a lot of friends, just a handful of people that I’ve known for decades and decades. These are people who will take a bullet for me. So I just keep it very So yeah.

  Cell phone and email are probably the best way to reach out to me and we can go from there.

  Quentin (24:36)
  Absolutely. Well, listen, man, I appreciate you so much. I appreciate your time, your stories, definitely your perspective. It was a pleasure talking to you. And I’m just, I’m so delighted that you was here. So thank you so much for coming through, Mr. Bobby. This was great, Absolutely. No problem. Now to everyone else, listen, I know you found value from this. I know you got value from Mr. Bobby and the stories. So make sure you’re subscribed. You do not want to miss out.

  Bobby Ahmed (24:51)
  You’re welcome. Thank you.

  Quentin (25:04)
  on these amazing conversations. So again, thank you, Mr. Bobby. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next episode.

  Bobby Ahmed (25:10)
  Thank you