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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds interviews MK Shadman, a passionate advocate for affordable housing solutions. MK shares her mission to provide housing for underserved populations, particularly focusing on urban and suburban areas in California. She discusses the challenges of funding and the need for innovative solutions to support the unsheltered community, including partnerships with various organizations. MK emphasizes the importance of empowering the younger generation, especially foster children, and calls for real estate professionals to engage in meaningful community support.
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MK Shadman (00:00)
you have no shelter and you’re there for more than 72 hours, the likelihood of you being physically assaulted is almost 100%. And post your dramatic experience, if you do not have a mental health issue, then I don’t know who you are. And if you don’t use drugs to reduce the pain, then you must be a robot.Quentin (01:58)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. Y’all know what I like to say. I’m excited, super excited. And I mean, I’m really excited again today. Our host, listen, she’s on a mission. She has 20 years of experience, but she’s on a mission. She’s on a mission. She has a cause that she is very, very passionate about, that we all should really be passionate about.You know, I like to tease a little bit, today I don’t want to take too much time from you guys hearing my voice. I really want you to hear the voice. Now, she told me I can call her MK. I’m gonna call her MK. If she wants to tell you her full government name, that’s on her, but I’m gonna introduce you all to Ms. MK. How are you doing today, man?
MK Shadman (02:42)
I’m doing great, Q. Thanks so much.Quentin (02:44)
Yes, listen, like I said, I’m so excited to have you. We’ve been talking backstage and you have, you have really educated me and inspired me on a topic that really I probably should know more about, but I’ve said say that I really don’t. And so, you know, we’re a real estate, you know, podcast. And so it has to do with real estate, but your lens is a specific lens. And so I don’t want to waste too much more time.Ms. MK, I want to dive in. I want you to bring people into your world, people that’s not familiar with what you do. I want you to tell them what’s your main focus these days and tell them what cities and states, know, what markets you’re operating in, in a sense.
MK Shadman (03:22)
So I mainly operate in the state of California and primarily in metropolitan cities, Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento. So basically focusing on high populated areas, urban, very central. And we have now expanded intofocusing into suburban areas and rural areas. And that’s specifically because we find that services are much limited in those areas, specifically in anything related to health or farm worker housing. So we are focusing now both in urban and suburban. The type of population that we are focusing on are those who need housing the most.
and can afford it the least. And so that has been our complete mission to find solutions where we can provide additional affordable housing or additional facilities that can provide pre-housing services. And with pre-housing services, mean mental health, drug rehab, and many other services that is needed in order for someone to get back into
the society or the working community. And some may never be able to do. So we just have to make sure that we address all of those needs. So my area of real estate is very specific and coming from over 20 years of very high net worth service providing and addressing the very high net worth individuals in Silicon Valley and elsewhere where we continuously and consistently
beat all the price per square foot, made sure that they have the largest mansions in Bel Air and else. I have pivoted into this type of services right at COVID. And that’s what I’m doing
now.
Quentin (06:03)
Absolutely. I heard and I was trying to write it down so I can quote you, but you said you provide opportunities for those who need housing the most, but the ones that are getting it the least. I’m not sure if you said it exactly like that, but that’s pretty much that’s your aim. And I mean, what a mission, know, what a mission, what a powerful passion and movement that inspires you.Ms. MK, I know it’s not easy and it’s climate, so what has been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly and to keep your passion, you know, going within that mission?
MK Shadman (06:35)
It’s really not easy at all because this area is not the most appealing investment model for the institutional lenders, investors or banks. The funding is heavily relied on donations and municipality contracts, counties and cities. And as you know, those take forever.It takes forever to get funding. And while that is happening, you face the massive need that is on the streets and you’re just paralyzed. You don’t know exactly what to do without having that. So one of my biggest mission is to really create a hybrid situation where these type of housings and these type of facilities would also be
financeable and bankable just as a senior housing or a mental health facility or a hospital per se, where the passion of helping and seeing the results and how it best impacts communities can bring back a part of that desired investment that a lender or an institutional group wants. I know that ⁓
banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, Chase, they are literally forced to lend in certain areas. And so maybe somehow we can force them to create a platform and financing model for these type of housing.
Quentin (07:51)
ThankYeah. No, I love.
MK Shadman (08:04)
And insurance companies,you know, they charge us 10 times more, 10 times more. The minute they know that the unhoused, previously unhoused, or people that are having physical limitation, they are amputees, or they have major health issues, the minute they see that that’s the type of population, they increase their insurance by 10-folds, which is ridiculous, right? And being a helping hand, they’re actually abusing the situation.
Quentin (08:29)
Yeah.No, I know one of the things you said that could be done. I was looking at my notes. thought I wrote it down, I believe I heard you saying one of the things that people can do is donate houses that can turn into housing for the unsheltered. Is that correct? Like the broken down house? Yeah. Yeah.
MK Shadman (08:50)
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.You know, I got involved because at the time the DA of ⁓ Alameda County, she took me on a joint ride to show me what was going on in Oakland. And I had multiple properties with my partners that were student housing and now they were vacant as a result of COVID. And so she had asked me to open the door to the community and I said no.
This is too high risk. I was trained by the old fashioned real estate. I’m not going to take that chance. There is no way. And finally she said, let me take a ride around town with me. And what changed my entire vision was when I found out that, you know, with the cliche, they’re all drug addict, they’re all mental health people, you know, and the reality is that if you’re on the streets,
Quentin (09:35)
Yeah.MK Shadman (09:40)
and you have no shelter and you’re there for more than 72 hours, the likelihood of you being physically assaulted is almost 100%. And post your dramatic experience, if you do not have a mental health issue, then I don’t know who you are. And if you don’t use drugs to reduce the pain, then you must be a robot.and i think there was a reality is that just had to be that you know i have all these rooms i have all these properties and i’m keeping the doors closed what’s wrong with me and said that’s how it started and it started this make merits large and was it beautiful amazing program that the city and then maybe shall started helped me out and and then you know i will i want to tell you the bad side of it the bad side of it is that
because it’s so unregulated and it is relied on nonprofits and the nonprofits most do not have any idea about property management, then friction starts when they allow criminal activities continue from streets to the properties. And there is no proper guidelines, there is no proper management, there is no proper support. So it becomes a milking situation for those providers.
So, know, I feel for the unsheltered community because first they’re on the street, then they get into the housing, and inside the community of the housing, they could also be abused. And so that’s why I started writing a book about how the management should be when they are within a community. And I think those of us like yourself who are professional real estate providers, we really need to be a helping hand and guide this process because…
I don’t think that that has been addressed at all. And there is no institution, no resource for anyone. And together, maybe we can build that. And that is my next mission. But to answer your question, if you have properties that are in decay, that you don’t know what to do, you inherited, donate it to us. We can also do a partnership. We can also do work together. We bring the funds to modify it to the use that we need, whether it will be turning from a retail to
an urgent care center. We’re doing one in Desert Hot Springs right now. We’re hoping to partner up with Eisenhower Hospital. They would be the providers. We got the land donated by a local developer and now we’re managing all of that and it’s going to provide medical help, urgent care for the least served community in Coachella Valley. Desert Hot Springs.
which is the least served community and has the highest number of tribal residents and minority group. So, and the city has been doing amazing for the past five years. It has grown exponentially. They have changed policies and now we can be the helping hand. So Q, yes, thank you for echoing that. We would love to partner up with any building that you think it’s the dog of the dogs. We can’t do anything with it. You know what?
Let us create something there to help our community.
Quentin (13:25)
I thank you. I thank you so much. I thank you for your unique lens, for your honesty, for you shining the light on how we can help instill what needs to be done. Right. And so, and I love the fact that you talked about how your firm, you understand property management, you know, and you bring the resources, what is it going to take to take those houses and get them where they need to be so that it can be substantially, um, inhabitable for somebody that’s, you know, that’s unsheltered. And so, and I keep trying to watch.MK Shadman (13:46)
Okay.Quentin (13:54)
my terminologies to make sure that I’m saying the right thing because you know, this is a ⁓ worthwhile, passionate mission that you’re doing. so Ms. MK, let me ask you this. And you’ve kind of alluded to this, but I just want to ask you the direct question so we can get it on camera so people can hear. What are you most focused on solving? Like what is the next real goal for you Ms. MK?MK Shadman (14:19)
My pure goal is to actually pivot and focus on our younger generation who are unsheltered. This segment of the population is our future. These are primarily foster children who have been fallen off the foster care. They’re on the street. They have no family support. And we need to really provide programs.as many others are doing to support them so that they are not being trafficked on the street, that they’re not being used as drug dealers purely because they have no other survival mechanism. If we could provide vocational training, work with Silicon Valley providers that provide free training, free coding programs, maybe have the real estate industry provide free real estate training.
and I’ll be happy to be part of that and really help this generation so that we can stop their move to the streets, living on the streets and being exposed to all of that early on before they get to 18. So we can have adequate housing for them, adequate vocational training for them, work with the beautiful colleges in the state of California.
get them to be educated. And again, not everybody has to be doctors and lawyers and you know, we need everything. We need barbers, we need hairstylists, we need nail ladies, we need cleaners, we need farmers. There is so much that we can teach them, work with them. And I think that is my focus. And I’m delighted to be supporting an organization in Oakland by name of Ruby’s Place.
run by a dear friend, Sephora Atchison. She is amazing. Sephora has done so much. And yeah, I’m delighted to support her and we’re doing a new project, financially supporting that project. And I think we will be looking for more players in this part of the providers. I think that is the key, our younger generation. And for the unsheltered elderly,
Quentin (16:26)
Yeah.MK Shadman (16:30)
dignified living, dignified end of life services with dignity, with respect, with love. You know, and I just, I just can’t imagine. mean, I had to deal with 80 year olds that were unsheltered. And why? Why don’t we have a proper services? I, you know, we can all get very political and talk about income polarization and we can talk aboutQuentin (16:32)
Yeah.MK Shadman (16:53)
you know, all the things that’s happening with the billionaires and one percenters. But the reality is that while all these discussions are going on, what can we do as service providers? What can we do as a small people on the street where we are not part of that political engine and all we can do is cast our single vote? But what can we do in the meantime to help our community? And that’s what I’m passionate about, to be part of the solution.and not part of the nagging and the problem creating.
Quentin (17:23)
Absolutely. No, this is big. I think it’s big how you want to help the younger generation. You know, I didn’t we didn’t get into this and I would just say a brief because I want to again make this about your voice. But I grew up in Baltimore City, know, Baltimore City. I grew up, you know, right outside of Washington, D.C. So seeing the unsheltered has been huge. I mean, we have a huge demographic in Baltimore, huge population of unsheltered people. And so.I grew up in the eighties and the nineties, you know? So this is something that I’ve seen firsthand. And not only that, my parents had the privilege of adopting five kids at one time. And so, you know, we talk about, you know, the foster that’s getting displaced, you know, that’s that they’re foster, but they’re not adopted. So they kind of get kind of back, pushed back in the system. It’s just like this recurring, you know, kind of door in a sense. And so, you know, I hear you mission and
MK Shadman (18:11)
Thank you.Quentin (18:19)
One of the things I want to ask you, because I want to highlight, because I think this is important. You mentioned it. But I want to see your views on relationships. How do you feel about partnering and building relationships with the right people? Does that directly affect what it is that you’re trying to do?MK Shadman (18:35)
Absolutely partnerships is everything. Not every not any single entity has all the tools that is required to provide a full spectrum umbrella of services that we need because first of all within the unsheltered community there is also a huge. Separated segment it is a.community within a community with specific needs and with specific requirements. So if we could find a way where we follow certain, you know, countries, we are following one in Housing First, but Housing First, in my humble opinion, has failed us. Housing First is not the answer because you do place them in the house, but then then what? Then you forget about them.
and they don’t even know how to live within that confined area when they have been on the street for many years. So all it is, it’s destroying the infrastructure that you’re handing over. And it also seems a little unfair to those of us who work so hard to keep the roof over our head. And then you wonder, should I just be on the street and get a free home? Why should I be working so hard? What incentivized me? And I think that’s where we have
That’s it’s failing. That’s fair. People are not looking at this as a proper answer. The proper answer is to really, if I have the power today, the same way that I say the right of the property owners is as strong as the right of the person who is building an encampment in front of that building, who gives you the right to do that when the one that has a building has to pay property taxes and has to care for that building while
They don’t even have access to the building because of the encampment that you have created. Who decides these? Who takes away those rights? And then the same thing happens here. Who decides that it’s okay for you to create thousands of tents and an encampment within a financial district disrupting the entire city life, disrupting the university life?
Well, why don’t we have an area that if you don’t have any housing, you go and report there immediately and say, I can’t afford a house or I don’t have a job. And then you can go through an evaluation. Do you have a mental health? Do you have a drug addiction? Do you simply don’t have a job? Are you at an age that you can go back to job? All of that should be under one roof.
It should be under one roof. There should be maybe four or five major centers in the state of California where everyone, when they see that they cannot afford it, they can go there. If they have a mortgage and they can’t pay for the mortgage, they need to alert immediately. You can’t afford the mortgage. Do you have a job? Can you maintain a job? Are there groups that they can come in and buy those notes from the banks before foreclosure and have an extended modification?
I praise the previous district attorney that she actually took steps and stopped foreclosures in California. Good for her. Those are things that we should do collectively. It is not just one person’s job. It’s a policy. But this policy is a failing policy. The city of Oakland is literally going into bankruptcy if they don’t make a major change. How many hotels are we buying to make it into shelters?
What happened? All of a sudden we have no hospitality business. So what happened to our tourism? So all of that is gone because every hotel has to be a shelter now? See, we have a bigger problem. But it doesn’t mean that this bigger problem should take away our passion and our responsibility to deal with the unsheltered community in a dignified way. Because you know what? I believe we can all be there.
We could have all been in exact that position. And I pray that if that happens to me, there’ll be someone like you who can hold my hand and, you know, hold my hand upwards and not put me down. Just hold me so I can get back on my feet. That’s important. But does it mean that the current policies are working? I don’t think they’re working. I praise the mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan, for saying, if I have a house for you, get off the street. If you’re still on the street, then there’s a problem.
Quentin (23:05)
Absolutely.Absolutely.
MK Shadman (23:30)
I support that. I’m just saying that Housing First policy by itself is not even sustainable. And we need to have these larger areas where people can come in, they can disclose what’s going on, the social workers and everyone in one center addressing everything. We are relying too much on nonprofit service providers that are milking the system, completely milking the system. We are really relying too much on that.Quentin (23:31)
ThankMK Shadman (23:55)
very little supervision. And that’s exactly why I evicted the city of Oakland out of my building. So you have zero supervision on your nonprofit. And they’re doing whatever they want to do. And I got them on film. have so many documents that I can supply to whoever wants it. But so I am passionate. And I think that the path we’re going is not right. I think more of us in real estate need to be involved, be part of this, and understand that weWe didn’t get licensed to only sell multi-million dollar homes. We were licensed to serve the public. And the public is a much greater number than just the billionaires.
Quentin (24:27)
Yeah.Absolutely. Well, Ms. MK, listen, I want to see if we can send the right foot traffic to what you’re doing. before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?
MK Shadman (24:40)
Thank you.housing.org, H-O-W-Z-I-N-G.org, housing.org, all my information is online, MKShadman, look me up. What do they do these days? Chat GPT, google.com, whatever you wanna do. MKShadman, and that’s S-H-A-D-M-A-N, and I will be super happy to talk to anyone who cares. I’m also just adding on,
on the advisory board of Salvation Army. So, and I support every community that is ready to give back and be accountable for the way they give back.
Quentin (25:25)
Absolutely, Where she is, Ms. M.K., I want to thank you so much for your story. Thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your time. Thank you for bringing this mission and unfolding it to the viewers so that they can get involved, that they can listen and they can participate. And so we definitely need more people like you with a servant’s heart, person of integrity that’s doing things the right way. So again, thank you for being here. Absolutely. Absolutely.MK Shadman (25:31)
Thank you.Thank you. Thanks so much, Keele. I appreciate your time. I appreciate
this opportunity. And let’s help more people who need the help.
Quentin (25:57)
Absolutely. Now listen everyone else you’ve heard this. I’m sure you got great value from this. So make sure you’re subscribed You do not want to miss out on upcoming conversations You see you never know what angle we’re coming from right? So you do not want to miss out on these most important valuable conversations So again into the next time we’ll see you then
