Multifamily Asset Management: The Dashboards Every Investor Needs

Amar Nagireddy (00:00)
Using these AI products or the agents that are available, I would say the workload has reduced close to 60 to 75% easily, especially in reviewing any deal that comes on your plate. Now, nine out of 10 people, I would say they generally reviewing with AI.

But there are some nuances to it as well. But for me, it is reducing my work by 60 to 75% easily. Since I am big into the numbers for any project for me to work, numbers should make sense, and then the team should make sense, and the third one is location for me. So that’s my order of priority for any deal that I look.

Joseph Crooms (02:13)
Hey everyone, welcome to Investor Fuel Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Joseph Crooms, and today I’m going to be joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with. His name is Amar, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate industry. Amar, glad to have you here.

Amar Nagireddy (02:34)
Thank you for inviting me, Joseph. Yes. I’m glad to be here.

Joseph Crooms (02:38)
Thank you very much for being here. I think our listeners are going to take away something from you—how you’re approaching your business, how you’re approaching real estate, some strengths, weaknesses, and you’re being very transparent. So let’s dive in. So first of all, for people who are not familiar with your world, give us the short version. What’s your main focus these days, and what markets are you operating in?

Amar Nagireddy (03:05)
Yeah, so I would say myself as a real estate investor and a developer who transitioned from the IT world. Right now, I’m mainly focused on developing the big projects in the multifamily and acquiring the existing multifamily assets. So, and operating as well.

Joseph Crooms (03:22)
Love it. What caught my attention about you is the way you’ve been utilizing your IT skills. How has that benefited you in the real estate industry?

Amar Nagireddy (03:34)
Using these AI products or the agents that are available, I would say the workload has reduced close to 60 to 75% easily, especially in reviewing any deal that comes on your plate. Now, nine out of 10 people, I would say they generally reviewing with AI.

But there are some nuances to it as well. But for me, it is reducing my work by 60 to 75% easily. Since I am big into the numbers for any project for me to work, numbers should make sense, and then the team should make sense, and the third one is location for me. So that’s my order of priority for any deal that I look.

Joseph Crooms (04:15)
We’re gonna talk about that a little more, Amar. That’s not easy, especially in this climate. What’s been the key to keeping your machine running smoothly?

Amar Nagireddy (05:11)
So for me it’s the people. It’s the people and the system that are behind it, people and the system that are behind it, and being proactive and diligently looking at it every day. I mean, it’s not a passive thing, it is an active—everyone has to have an active role in doing this, whatever we call it, in operating any…

multifamily product or developing a multifamily asset. It is a day-to-day activity, just like in a regular job, you are working for yourself. You’re not working for someone else. So the gains are high when you compare with any regular W-2. That being said, I would say the systems, right? What systems you have. That makes a lot of difference for you to scale it.

Joseph Crooms (06:01)
Now, now every operator knows, has had a moment where things got real. Maybe a deal that went sideways or a time that they had to pivot fast. Do you mind sharing one of those moments with us and how you utilized your systems, how you utilized your strengths, and how you identified your weakness and overcame it?

Amar Nagireddy (06:21)
Yeah, I would say that one of my initial projects, we were relying on what our operator used to send—the reports every day, not every day, but weekly. We used to monitor those and we took it as the numbers. But in reality, it was not pulling up the right numbers from the asset that they are putting. It’s showing half of the work orders, collections… the numbers were wrong. It’s not any malicious activity on their front, but they are not using properly the software that they had.

We were in a—I would not say very bad shape, but we were in a bad, bad shape until we identified the issue. So, for me right now, whenever, if I’m going with any operator, I right away ask, what is the software that they are using? How well-versed are they using it, and how long they have been using it? That’s one thing, and as an owner from my end, I like to have a dashboard for each project, for each asset.

I need to look at the dashboard for each asset and get the numbers right away. Whenever any ad hoc requests, if I want to look at it, I’m going to click a button, it should give me the numbers. What is the occupancy? What is the delinquency? How many work orders are there, what is it… so it’s just at a high-level numbers.

Joseph Crooms (07:46)
How long did it take you to identify that you need to get these dashboards in place, you know, and how did you go about that?

Amar Nagireddy (07:55)
I think after my fourth deal, or after I’ve been in the fourth deal, and I felt like you will be giving the importance to the deal that is, that has a high urgency. So, it’s just a human tendency to kind of once the deal is stabilized that you tend to forget about what’s happening there and you focus on the one which has issues. So, that way the operators…

When you’re not asking the right question to the operator, they’re slacking. It’s just a human tendency. That’s why having those, I felt like having those dashboards just at a quick glance and then right away ask those questions, hey, what’s happening here? Why are the numbers down? Why is the number up? Those simple questions make the operators bring their A game.

Joseph Crooms (08:41)
So, when you ask those simple questions, was there much resistance from the operators or did you see them pause and really have to think about it? ‘Cause it may not have been something they thought about before.

Amar Nagireddy (08:52)
I think most of the time it’s not a resistance, but they do get sometimes, hey, why are you looking at that detailed level sometimes? So, I mean as an example, right, so if there could be blinds and a window is just broken down and for some odd reason 10 people complained about it, you have 10 work orders.

And I ask him what’s happening, why there are 10 work orders yesterday. For them it’s a very simple request, go and change it. It’s just a 10-minute job. So sometimes they feel like, hey, we will take care of it in less than a day.

Joseph Crooms (09:29)
Like your system has helped them identify some things that are probably hurting their market, and it’s simpler to simplify, would you agree with that?

Amar Nagireddy (09:40)
I agree with that one, yes.

Joseph Crooms (09:41)
You know, that’s the kind of stuff people don’t talk about enough. And honestly, it’s what separates the folks who are just dabbling from the ones who stay in the game long term. Let me ask you this, Amar. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? What’s your next real goal for you?

Amar Nagireddy (10:34)
So I think for me the next biggest thing is finding the capital for my deals that I’m doing. So I feel like getting the capital from the accredited investors or the regular investor—the regular Joe who has been investing so far are kind of holding their investments just because of the market conditions and how it is progressing globally. So they are holding it back. But at the same time, I’m trying to get connected with the family offices and private equity funds where I could raise the capital.

Joseph Crooms (11:09)
That’s big. Especially when you’ve already got, you know, a good team in place, the next move can either compound things or create chaos depending on how you play it. Now, I know a lot of people listening are either early in their journey or looking to level up, and I think that they’ll benefit from hearing this. When it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?

Amar Nagireddy (11:38)
So for me, attending events—any real estate events, sometimes it’s not even a real estate, any public event that is happening—and being introduced, introducing yourself to others, building those connections. Not just building the connections, but after that, the real world starts. You get introduced to some individuals, you talk for a few minutes, not more than five, or maybe two minutes, three minutes, sometimes five minutes.

Taking his or her information and then in the coming weeks, scheduling a call with them, understanding what they are looking for and what I have—is there any synergy between us to work further? So following up on those calls after whatever the initial discussion is, what I feel like builds that relationship. And once you collaborate with them and they are part of your project, having that open conversation with them.

So for me, if I’m working with someone, I like to work with them as long as I’m doing deals. I don’t want to, for any individual or any person, I don’t want to just do one deal with them and be done with it. So I want to have a long-term relationship with each and every individual that I work with.

But that being said, I do expect a certain level of effort from their end too. I respect their time, I respect my time. I want that to be—that’s one of my important criteria—and I want them to add value to the team and…

I mean, no one knows everything, right? It doesn’t matter who you talk to, there is always something you learn from them, and then they can learn from you. There should be a mutual cohesion between the individuals. So it won’t happen for each and every individual, but you will know right away. You need to believe in your gut when you are meeting someone and you have those conversations. You feel like, man, he is doing something different and I don’t have that skill set, and he should also feel the same way, and then you connect, and then that relationship just… I have all my partners right now, I’ve been with them almost more than five, six years doing these deals together.

Joseph Crooms (14:00)
So you can’t fake the relationship, they’re everything in this space. Would you agree with me? Yes. So you know, can you elaborate a little bit more on that? Give me an introduction now of how you would introduce yourself when you meet them.

Amar Nagireddy (14:06)
100%.

Amar Nagireddy (14:14)
Just depending upon the event, I’ll just say, I’m a real estate investor and a developer. And I’m curious to know what you are trying to learn from this event. If I’m at an event, what are your expectations? And then I generally tell them about why I’m there. And I’ll never say that I came here to seek a partner or to see funds. But I say, this is what I do and this is the value that I generate by building this, by building generational wealth. And this is a good avenue that I feel—this is one of those good avenues where you can build generational wealth. So, I start with that combination.

Joseph Crooms (15:39)
Yeah, do you ever feel ashamed or concerned that you’re using the words, “hey, I’m bringing value to this conversation”? What’s the response?

Amar Nagireddy (15:49)
I would not use it right away when I meet them for the first time. But I generally schedule my calls with them after that. And I tell them, these are my strengths in the real estate environment: I’m good at finding a deal, I’m good at underwriting it, I’m good at managing a property, I can put together a project plan like no one else can do it that quickly. And at the same time, I do raise capital.

It’s not enough. I need help, not only just in raising capital, but in each and every aspect of it. I have big ambitions. I want you to be part of that, if that aligns.

Joseph Crooms (16:27)
That’s awesome. That’s awesome, Amar. All right, before we wrap this up, if someone wanted to reach out and connect with you, Amar, or maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way to reach you? Take your time, say it twice, ’cause I really want them to capture it.

Amar Nagireddy (16:46)
I think I am fairly—you can Google my name, Amar Nagireddy. You will be able to find me on LinkedIn or on Facebook. And I’ll give my phone number. I mean, I’m always very quick to respond to my email or a text message. My phone number starts with 312-246-9523. Let me repeat that one: 312-246-9523. Send me a text and then I will send my calendar link. We can schedule a call right away, or you can just give me a text and then we can figure out the time and talk further.

Joseph Crooms (17:27)
Listen to my listeners. One of you guys may have been doing something, got distracted, so I asked Amar to do it twice. Give it to us one more time, Amar.

Amar Nagireddy (17:34)
Yep, so the phone number is 312-246-9523.

Joseph Crooms (17:42)
Perfect. Well listen, I appreciate your time, your story, your perspective. We need more people in the space who are doing the right things the right way. Thanks again for being here. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you subscribe. We got more conversations coming with operators just like Amar who are out there building real business. We’ll see you at our next episode. Amar, say goodbye. Tell everybody talk to you soon.

Amar Nagireddy (18:10)
Thank you. Thank you for having me on your podcast, Joseph.

Joseph Crooms (18:14)
And thank you guys for all joining Investor Fuel Real Estate Pros Podcast. Signing off. Take care, Amar.