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Show Summary
In this conversation, Rashmi shares her multifaceted journey in real estate, discussing her unique approach as both an operator and investor. She emphasizes the importance of prioritizing people over profits, navigating challenges in the current market, and shifting focus towards affordable housing. Rashmi also highlights the significance of building authentic relationships and maintaining clarity in business operations, all while pursuing personal and financial freedom through real estate.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Rashmi Nigam (00:00)
First thing, people over profits. I think you have to be kind to your tenants. You have to be gracious with your team members and be good stewards of investors first, right? It’s when you do all that, when you do right by people.growth follows. So I think that’s really it. And there is no substitute for that. So I think I keep that. I really hold that to my heart.
Quentin Edmonds (01:58)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host Q Edmonds. So glad to be with you today. I have another guest and I’m really sure that you’re going to like what she has to say. She is an owner operator investor. So definitely have a lot of knowledge about what she do and what she brings to the space. And we should have went over our first name, but we didn’t. So I’m going to take a try and hopefully I’ve won it by naming this Ms. Bashami, Ms. Bashami.How did I do? it Rashmi? Rashmi? Don’t rush me Rashmi. Got you. I appreciate that. So how are you doing today? How’s everything going for you?
Rashmi Nigam (02:30)
Don’t rush me.Really good. Thank you for having me here. Really excited to speak with you and share my journey. So thank you.
Quentin Edmonds (02:45)
Absolutely, but then speaking of journeys that style right in I want you to tell the people what your main focus is these days I’m if you want to give us a little bit of an origin story of how you got into real estate We would love to hear that and then tell us what part of the world you’re in what market you’re operating in and so ma’am you have the floorRashmi Nigam (03:01)
Absolutely. Thank you. So typically most people walk into real estate. It’s like you have a home and maybe you upgrade or you move to a different place. So you rent out that home. You realize how painful it is. Then you start investing. You get rid of that house, take the money, invest as an LP. Then you love it. You become an operator or a GP. That was not my journey. I kind of have done pretty much everything reverse. So the way I just went, justdove right into buying apartment buildings. And honestly, I didn’t know any better at that time. And so got into buying a couple of multifamily apartment buildings in LA, California. And I’m glad it happened that way because it forced me to learn and just learn stuff. And then after that, I moved on to the LP side because as an operator, I started understanding the environments and the buildings and what to learn. So I started seeing deals that people were getting involved.
in and markets that I like, asset classes that I don’t want to get into. So started working as a limited partner in multiple deals. At this point I have about 15 deals I’m invested in. About to close in on my first JV deal. I still haven’t done a GP deal because I just am always scared of little getting into just that box for the moment.
And I also do fundraising for a debt fund. So multiple hats and I love it. ⁓ I tell people I want to be 86 and still be doing real estate. So that’s my journey. The markets we’ve been in, typically, historically, we’ve been in value add. So that playbook is a little old. So I’m re-evaluating where we position ourselves. So as an operator, it’s value add multifamily in Tucson and Arizona and then Kansas.
And then as an LP, my asset classes are pretty much, know, mobile home, industrial, multifamily, ground up construction, affordable housing, and they’re literally all over. They could be in Texas, Indiana, Minnesota, so all over where the deal makes sense. So that’s me in a nutshell.
Quentin Edmonds (05:10)
Got you. Love it. Thank you for taking us through the journey. Welcome us through. I would love to know what real estate and being in real estate has taught you about yourself. Right. Because I have a saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments. I mean, like no matter what we go through in life, there are things that just teach us about us. Destiny moments and destiny teach us sometimes how to be resilient, sometimes how to be disciplined. So what has real estate and the destiny in a journey in real estate taught you about you?Rashmi Nigam (06:27)
First thing, people over profits. I think you have to be kind to your tenants. You have to be gracious with your team members and be good stewards of investors first, right? It’s when you do all that, when you do right by people.growth follows. So I think that’s really it. And there is no substitute for that. So I think I keep that. I really hold that to my heart.
I think that’s been a very, very valuable lesson for me. And when you operate with integrity, yeah, sometimes maybe you may lose a little bit of profit, but you generally always come out ahead and you sleep better at night. So that’s one. The second thing of, know, it’s always be learning. You have to be learning in this space to learn, especially the space I’m in where I’m not
really ⁓ a 3,000 unit syndicator but I’m also not a mom and pop but I operate at that level so it’s like I’m always learning from the best applying it to my business and growing that way so that’s the other thing and you know act quickly but that’s the life it’s when things are not a fit just cut your losses there have been times I’ve had property management firm
I’m talking over a 12 year journey at this point where you’re like, okay, maybe they’re not that good. Let me give them a chance. The next thing know, it’s like several months and the damage takes a long time to recover. So cut your losses short and quickly move.
Quentin Edmonds (07:56)
I loved that when you said people over profit. I always say that at the foundation of any sustainable business I think it’s servitude is a service is a service to people Like you said you may use a little bit of profit But you I’m a synthesize like this won’t lose your soul, right? When you operate with integrity when you operate with honesty Yeah, you make a little bit of profit, but you won’t lose your soul and one of my mentors told me one time I didn’t understand it, but I understand it more now. He said all money ain’t good moneyAll money, if you can’t sleep at night, if you had to go outside of your moral ethics or outside of your authenticity to get it, then sometimes it just wasn’t meant for you. It was meant for somebody else, but not meant for you. And so I love when you said people over profit. I really love that. Let me ask you, have you had any adversity as you was building? Have you bumped up against any adversity as you was on this journey to grow into where you are now?
Rashmi Nigam (08:54)
Lots, lots, lots, lots. I mean, this is, it’s, it’s a tough business. It’s, I didn’t talk about some of the challenges I faced last year, if that’s the path you want me to go down on. You know, so it’s the way I look at real estate, it’s a long-term game and you know, it’s a business and every business has ups and downs. When the gravy train is good, it’s really good. And when it is tough, you just hunker down, minimize your risk.Stake steady till it turns. So, you know, both as an operator and investor, ⁓ last year, I think has been one of probably the toughest years. It felt like a whack-a-mole is literally playing that game. I deal with an issue and then things would just three more would pop up and, you know, it was relentless. was insurance issues, insurance claims, refinances.
occupancy pressure, everyone across the board has experienced major occupancy related issues, conversions, lenders have become stricter in ways that they weren’t. And it was exhausting. There were moments where I think you come in.
You sit in a corner and you have a pity party. It’s okay to have a pity party. I’m fine with that. What I’m not fine is for it to extend. So I’ll have a day and I’ll get back the next day and get back into it. But again, it goes back. These challenges are there. And for me, the biggest thing that helped was people over profits even doing that. And the second thing has been like I’ve heard multiple people say last year was the toughest operating environment in 40 years.
So I haven’t been doing this for 40 years, but I felt it really tough in the last 15 years. But the way I’ve dealt it was I reframed the whole thing in my head. I looked at it, it’s a business, even though it’s an investing thing and I’m in it for long-term wealth, et cetera, but it was really a business that has ups and downs. So I kind of looked at that and I held on and you just mitigate risk and you hold on. And so that’s been that challenge on
the operator side, the investor side, if you’d like me to dig into that.
Quentin Edmonds (11:42)
I’m loving everything you saying. So if you willing to tell I’m willing to listen for sureRashmi Nigam (11:47)
On the investor side, I actually feel very fortunate because every week I’ve been hearing horror stories of people losing all their capital or even major capital calls. So across my 15 deals, I just feel blessed. I had one small capital call and it was just a few thousand, so I don’t consider it. And even then, once I read the docs, I backed away from the whole amount they were asking.So you got to read your documents if you’re signing documents and you have to know what’s in it. You know, so I think, you know, I know even though some of the deals haven’t paid, my capital’s protected and they’re good stewards of my money and they’re good operators. And so, you it will all bounce back. You just have to be patient, right? As long as they’re good. But my biggest challenge right now is really the deal flow. My playbook that was,
For a lot of people, could go in, do value add, bring up rents by three, 400 bucks and flip it around and refinance. That’s not gonna work in this economy, right? It’s like, literally the cost of operating is ridiculous. I just got a bid to paint a two bedroom, just 30 minutes before we talked, for $7,500 to paint. I’m like, I’ll show up. I’m gonna come and do that.
But I think it’s trying to figure out what’s the next thesis on where I should be investing and changing. And you have to change your strategy as times are changed. So for me, what that has meant is moving more into affordable housing. Right. There is a lot of support. There is a need and the economics make sense. It’s shifting in that box. It’s shifting a little bit more away from value add. So that’s.
my investor challenge and then finally as a fundraiser what’s actually been interesting is there is no shortage for money. It’s like we have a long waiting list of people who want to deploy capital. It’s scary you know I have a solid due diligence process but it’s scary how people just hand away money without doing anything and I have to tell people who come to me like I’m good but you just have to be careful and
So we have capital, but the hard part there is finding opportunities that we could fund that is right by our investors and by lending criteria. So it’s different roles, different challenges, but that’s what we wake up to do every day is to figure out how to keep moving the ball forward and adding value to whoever we’re serving.
Quentin Edmonds (14:29)
Yeah. I love you so much. Thank you so much for just one, gift of your vulnerability, but you you sharing with us just from a vulnerable space. I love how the way you regulate yourself. I love how you say, you know, hey, I’m willing to sit in my emotions. You know, if something goes wrong, I’ll sit in my emotions like for a day. You know, so I’ll recognize what’s going on. And then I love how you say you will be refrained.I love that. mean, I think that is such a powerful thing that we all can do because perception is everything. And so reframing, hey, what can I learn from this? Trials come to make me strong. you know, this, you know, one thing I say is failure is fertilizer, right? Like, so what am I learning from this that’s going to fertilize the growth in me? So I absolutely love it. And I love how you broke down every segment. I mean, really, like you said, you wear different hats and you’re really walking each step with a certain like.
patience and perseverance and self-awareness. And I appreciate you really, really for sharing that. I know that’s going to help a lot of people as you was talking. Let me ask you this. What is the next real goal? Like, what are you looking to solve a scale next?
Rashmi Nigam (16:21)
keep acquiring because ultimately we get into this is for freedom. Yeah. People want freedom of time, freedom of money, freedom of location and building wealth in a way. you know, we I’ve been working on this for a while. In fact, when we started, both my husband and I had W-2. So we built a lot of this up while we were working. It’s only been in the last two years where I’ve started focusing on this full time. the goal is growth.The goal is, again, ⁓ controlled growth so you can support and build the systems around it. So right now, ⁓ last year I had one deal I invested in, so that’s sort of Med Center in Minnesota. And that took me about two years of due diligence before I actually gave money to that operator. So that’s just, I’m just slow, but it works for me. But when I give, I know it’s not going to fail. I do have two deals happening. ⁓
One’s a JV and the other one’s more of an LP deal, but they’re all in the affordable housing thing. So, know, it’s all of sudden that adds on another, I don’t know, a few hundred units that you’re managing. So I’m excited about that. So that to me is growth and constantly, you know, the way I’ve structured my LP deals is every year something is coming to you and you’re deploying it.
And so I’d have a little bit of a framework where I have a ceiling where I don’t invest more than 250,000 with any operator out there. Things go south, operators change, that’s my limit. And then even if you give me greater returns, so once that hits, that’s why I’m always looking for new stuff.
So a couple of deals are coming through, so I’m just getting queued up to find new places. So that’s where growth is. Again, like I mentioned, ⁓ I love this business. I love what it does to me personally as a family, but I love what it does when you provide a safe home for people and when they feel a place. So it’s something I have been passionate about forever since I think I was 10.
So I’m going to do this till I’m 90. want to, literally my goal is to close a contract when I’m 86 years old. And so that’s growth. And it’s just control growth. I feel like the plane’s on the runway. It’s starting to take off. And that’s where I’m at in my journey.
Quentin Edmonds (18:43)
I love it. I love it. And I love how you wear different hats. I love how you’re connecting with different people. So when I asked you about relationship building, how has a relationship served you? Have they served you well? What is your, do you put a premium on relationships? Talk to me about how you value or what’s your perspective when it comes to relationships.Rashmi Nigam (19:05)
I think in life, relationships are one of the most important things, period. Like whether it’s work, real estate, family, it is it. That is the glue that keeps life worth living. So the way I approach them, it’s I want to be helpful to people and it’s taken me a while to kind ofbe available and helpful, you have to have that mindset shift and build relationships when you don’t really need anything. Sometimes those are the best relationships when…
I actually don’t know what a lot of my friends do because I’m friends with them because we have fun together. I think it’s when you build these authentic relationships where you can help people do something that helps. So in real estate, even with tenants, relationships matter, right? A tenant that you treat well and are there and you listen to them, even when things go south, they’re not as angry with you, even though they’re pissed off, right?
It’s the thing ⁓ with people relationships matter like when I am struggling with stuff or when I feel like my god my insurance has gone up five times what do I do or when I’m having a pity party I can pick up somebody and be like hey and then that person’s like yep I know I know and so it’s important I think the trick is to be authentic to be yourself and don’t approach it transactionally
Like I’ll give you an example, like I mentioned earlier, it takes me a while to invest because I really do do my due diligence on an operator. So there was a sponsor, I live in LA and he had an event for investors. I’m on it and I’ve been looking at him as somebody I’d want to invest in. So like, hey, come meet people. I’m like, let me go meet period. If you’re thinking of investing with somebody, you have to meet them. And if you can’t meet them at the very least, Google them to see if there are no arrest warrants.
or lawsuits pending, like that’s the bare bit of you have to do before you give people money. I expressed my interest in coming and the investor relations person came back and like, hey, if you’re not investing in the next deal, please don’t come. And it was a very transactional email and it was, and it shut me off. All he could have said, come on in, cause that’s what I do as an invest fundraiser. People need to trust you, know you and feel comfortable.
And he just said, if you’re not looking to invest now, this is not for you. That just shut that door. That relationship never got built when we could have had an opportunity. Would I recommend them to my friends? Probably not. Right? No. ⁓ And so I think, you you have to be mindful at how you approach people. Also, what I’ve noticed with relationships, you know, the loudest person isn’t always the best person.
And sometimes as a woman or sometimes even just my personality, I am a quiet person. I am an observer. And so people kind of look over you and I’m thinking, dude, I’m deploying capital. Right? So you have to come in with an open mindset and talk to people. So my goal is always be talking and pick up the phone if someone calls. And if you can give them time, just give them time.
Quentin Edmonds (22:23)
Yeah. I love it. I love your approach. I love the way you treat people. I love you keep saying this word and it’s a word that my mother told me when I was younger, authenticity, just being authentic, even with relationships. You know, I believe in growing relationships organically. I believe, you know, two people is like, how can two people walk together unless they agree? Right. We have to agree. We have to be like equally yoked in a sense, you know? And soI absolutely love the framework and the way that you think about relationships. And I thank you so much for sharing. Let me ask you this. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing, collaborate with you, how can they reach out to you?
Rashmi Nigam (23:09)
Two places. One is you can find me on Insta on this handle. She stacks up. So part of my journey in this, I started a newsletter where I’m teaching women how to just get really good with money. Like I’ve noticed with women, especially when, you know, 40 and up, you have money because you’re working or families, it’s coming to a different level. But we just don’t talk about it. We talk about everything, recipes, childcare, but never money. So that’s where I’m there. You can find me at the newsletter.And the second thing is on LinkedIn. Rashmi Nigam
Quentin Edmonds (23:42)
youWait, let me say LinkedIn again?
Rashmi Nigam (23:47)
Yeah, LinkedIn under my name. I don’t have a website. I know it’s been on my list. When you’re a solo operator, have a long list of urgent things to do. It just never bubbles up to the top.Quentin Edmonds (23:50)
Got you.Well, Ms. Rashmi, want to say ⁓ one, definitely thank you for your time. think you know time is very precious. Time is a precious commodity. Like you said, we’re trying to get our time back. This is why we do what we do to get our time back. So definitely thank you for your time. Thank you for your story. You get to your vulnerability and just sharing just the journey, the ups and the downs, the wins, and sometimes sitting in the lows and recalibrating and reframing things. So I appreciate that.
And definitely thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your mindset and bringing that mindset to this platform. I really appreciate you being here today.
Rashmi Nigam (24:38)
Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure.Quentin Edmonds (24:39)
Absolutely,Well, listen, y’all heard Ms. Rashmi. Y’all check her out, check the show notes, get in contact with her, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you we’re going to continue to bring up amazing guests just like Ms. Rashmi. So thank you again, ma’am, and to everyone else. Y’all have a fantastic day.
