The Ultimate Guide to Property Syndication for Long-Term Success

John Harcar (00:01.332)

All right, hey guys, welcome back to the show. I’m your host, John Harcar. I’m here today with, and I hope I still get this right, Himanshu Jain. And what we’re gonna talk about is primarily his real estate journey, like all the different stuff he’s done, but we’re also gonna talk about how he finds maybe undervalued properties and turns them into good long-term investments. Remember guys, at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, really all real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their business.

by providing tools and resources to help grow the business they wanna grow, in turn, helps them live that life that they’ve always dreamed of. know, further ado, Himanshu, thank you very much for being on our show today. How are you?

Himanshu Jain (00:42.199)

I’m good, John. Thanks for having me.

John Harcar (00:44.078)

Yeah, excited to hear more about your journey and talk about our topic of, really turning those undervalued properties into moneymakers. But before we get into all that specific stuff, why don’t you tell our audience a little bit about you, kind of, you know, where you came from, how you got into real estate and what got you here to today?

Himanshu Jain (01:02.295)

Sure, sure. So I came to US in 1997. I came with $1,500 in my pocket and a job. And we landed in Burlington, North Carolina. And that was a very small town. So the initial few weeks were really tough because it’s a small city. We didn’t have a car. We were living in West Western. That was our home initially. And…

John Harcar (01:26.712)

Mmm.

Himanshu Jain (01:29.207)

everything was new for us, the culture, the language, the slangs, and the food. And being vegetarian, it was very, very difficult for us to sustain. Initially, we were just living off of bread and fruits in West Western. And my wife, was carrying at that time. So we were really struggling. I was almost spending $200 every day on my hotel and car, taxi.

John Harcar (01:56.43)

Yeah.

Himanshu Jain (01:57.003)

So, yeah, I mean, things got okay. I kind of went from there and I, in 9-11 happened after a few years. And I was told, I used to work with a consulting firm at that time and I was told I have 10 days to find a new job or go back to India. And I was really shocked with that and there was…

kind of, know, in a very vulnerable situation and I didn’t like that at all. Yes, because 9-11 happened and they laid off the whole office, you know, everybody was let go and I was on H1. So I had to find a specific type of a job. I mean, you know, something that meets my criteria and my skills and on H1, yeah. and…

John Harcar (02:31.106)

Was that because of 9-11?

John Harcar (02:47.053)

Right.

Himanshu Jain (02:51.007)

So I was kind of in a shock and I just didn’t want to be in that situation again and I decided, okay, I don’t want to be working with anybody else now.

be working for myself in a way where I have some kind of assay. So I joined a friend of mine and I started working. And then things went well. In 2007, I got my green card and I started my own IT consulting company. Did very well. Did very well. But that fear, that vulnerability that I felt on 9-11, it was always there. And I wanted somehow to secure.

John Harcar (03:17.464)

Good for you.

Himanshu Jain (03:29.729)

you know, how do I ensure that my family and I, are kind of okay when things go bad? And that’s when I started looking at real estate. I came across this book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

John Harcar (03:41.23)

I was going to say, so what book did you read? Because almost everybody is read, but that’s that’s you know, that’s the impact that one little purple book had. It’s amazing, amazing.

Himanshu Jain (03:46.539)

Yeah.

Himanshu Jain (03:50.455)

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I did just open up this whole passive income through real estate and I was just into it. think that’s when I started investing into real estate. So in 2013, I bought my first condo in Chicago area. because I had been working, you know, so I kind of just bought it as a second home initially.

John Harcar (04:08.526)

Okay. Where did you have the cash?

Himanshu Jain (04:18.615)

But I had already, I’ve been doing almost research. Once I read that book, was almost for a year I was doing research into, and I was focusing more on multifamily. That’s what I wanted to invest in. So I had kind of accumulated, I knew that you need to have 20 % down and all that.

John Harcar (04:30.476)

Mm-hmm.

Himanshu Jain (04:37.559)

So I’ve kind of worked towards that. So initially it was all my money and I started buying. And as I said, I bought in 2013, my first condo. I also immediately I bought a 20 unit multifamily in St. Louis. Yeah, I was kind of mentally prepared because as I said, for a year I was looking into that. I had already spoken to property managers. I already had a team lined up and I was just looking for an asset to acquire.

John Harcar (04:51.832)

From a condo to 20 units?

Himanshu Jain (05:06.259)

And so from 2013 till 2017, I was in buy and hold kind of a mode. I acquired a lot of different properties over a period of time. So multi-family, some single family home. So kind of did different things. And I did flip as well during that time.

So I did a flips in Chicago. I did a few flips in St. Louis. So that’s what I’ve been doing all throughout. But my focus was mainly, you know, at some point to get into multifamily. And my goal was to have like 200 units of my own. But I hit a, you know, brick wall like everybody else, you know. So once you spend all your money that you have, then you know, okay, what do I do now? And…

John Harcar (05:55.459)

Yeah.

Himanshu Jain (05:56.375)

And the only way out was, know, you’ve got to go and do syndication and you’ve got to raise money and acquire. And at that point, I was not mentally ready for that because to me, syndication, taking somebody else’s money, it’s a big responsibility. And I was not ready for that. Now, I think things have changed. I’m kind of looking for that and kind of looking at going back onto the journey of

getting more doors, but kind of collaborating because that’s what I’ve learned over a period of times. Real estate is more like a team sport. You call it, you write people in. And after time managing these multifamily units that I have right now, mean, I’ve realized you’ve got to depend on your property managers. You’ve got to depend on your real estate people who are ahead. Yeah, it’s all about your network. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

John Harcar (06:32.682)

Mm-hmm. 100%.

John Harcar (06:45.55)

It’s your network. It’s your network. 100%. Let’s go back a little bit because I know there’s some probably newer folks that might be listening to this that maybe haven’t done too many deals or let alone go from a condo to 20 units. It’s a pretty fast jump. But two questions I think I’m going to start off with the first one is, why did it take so long? I know you’re doing a lot of study you said for a year.

Why at any point or maybe you did and couldn’t find the right one, did you not search out a mentor to maybe kind of like help eliminate some of that length of learning?

Himanshu Jain (07:21.579)

That’s a very good question. I think this mentor, this coach thing kind of started happening after, that’s my personal opinion. I think it started happening more after social media. So the time when I was looking at, like in 2013, I had not come across anybody who would.

John Harcar (07:37.858)

Yeah, of course.

Himanshu Jain (07:46.145)

be like a coach. only thing that I remember, most of my learning happened through podcasts, know, and the books, you know, and I was just listening to lot of these podcasts. I mean, I was on a bigger pocket podcast too at that time. And that’s where I acquired, you know, just through various podcasts, I acquired a lot of this information. So yeah.

John Harcar (07:51.606)

Mmm, yeah.

John Harcar (08:05.806)

Got it. The second part of that question is being that you did all this learning on your own, were there any struggles that you started off with at the beginning, whether it’s on the condo, whether it’s on the 20 unit, but were there any struggles or things or mistakes you made, you look back and go, man.

Himanshu Jain (08:23.211)

Yeah, yeah, a lot of things. For example, for example, like, you know, initially when I hired, I kind of worked with a property manager, but it wasn’t a guy who was new to the business in a way. I thought I was giving an opportunity, like me, I was getting new into the business. He had done some work, but he had not managed like 20 units or something like that before he was doing more single family homes.

John Harcar (08:26.978)

Well, give me a couple of examples just so you know.

Himanshu Jain (08:51.959)

And I worked with him and he did a good job initially. And I think because I was working my W-2 at that time, so my focus was not solely on him or working with him at that point of time. And over a period of time, I realized the property had started to go down in terms of the tenant base was not.

John Harcar (09:08.867)

Mm-hmm.

Himanshu Jain (09:19.547)

as I was expecting it to be and I think there was some property management which was not kind of taken care of over time. So I think that was one mistake where I kind of relied on somebody and not being in constant touch with him. so I had to take over the whole property management aspect from him.

And that’s when I started upgrading the property. I upgraded a lot of the units that I had. I changed the flooring, added washer and dryer to the units where I can. I did a value add to the property over a period of time and kind of raised the rents from there on.

John Harcar (10:01.07)

And that’s a smart way to do it. So is that kind of what you’re targeting a lot more right now is value add stuff?

Himanshu Jain (10:06.919)

Yes, I think that’s what I’m trying to focus on. But my focus now is going to be more on I’m looking at, as I said, I’m working with other investors and we are looking at acquiring 100 plus units. I believe the time of effort that you’re putting in is kind of same. You’re better off just have economies of scale to play into this. So if you buy bigger number of units, I think you have a better chance of adding value and then

better chance of making value and money for all your investors. yeah.

John Harcar (10:42.274)

right. Okay. What? what is your you know, we talked about getting how you got up to today. And you said you’re still doing flips and those type of things. You’re not

Himanshu Jain (10:51.799)

No, I’m not. So right now, yeah, I’ve stopped doing flips. So right now I’m working on three things. One, I’m doing some, because I’ve left my job this year, I’m not on W2 anymore. So I’m working.

One, I’m doing some construction. I’m doing single family homes, but I’m doing infill lots. I’m taking an infill lot, see where I can add a value. So like I bought a lot here recently where I’m subdividing it and I’m going to build two homes on it now.

John Harcar (11:24.033)

Okay.

Himanshu Jain (11:24.087)

So that’s something which I’ve done as a syndication. I’ve raised money with my friends and that’s what I’m doing. So that’s one aspect of what I’m doing today. The other thing, as I said, I am working with a group of investors where we are looking for 100 plus units in St. Louis and in Chicago area because I want to be in areas where I’m comfortable that I know about. so that’s the second thing that I’m working on.

is I’m a real estate agent myself and I work with other investors and I’m helping them in buying commercial properties here in St. Louis.

John Harcar (12:02.742)

Okay. So, so what does your team look like? there, mean, do you have like a big staff? Is it kind of real lean? How are you running?

Himanshu Jain (12:09.473)

Pretty lean right now, but again, I have collaborations and I have partners that I work with for different things.

John Harcar (12:15.374)

Okay. Okay. And how many current doors do you have?

Himanshu Jain (12:20.648)

I have right now we are just at 40 plus. This is on my own right now. But again, as I said, I’m looking at getting into bigger deals.

John Harcar (12:24.302)

Okay. Okay.

John Harcar (12:30.702)

What’s your goal? if we talked maybe a year from today, you, what goal, or if I ask that same question, how many units, what do you want to say?

Himanshu Jain (12:39.233)

So my goal is to at least get 200 dose by end of this year. So that’s the goal that I’m aiming for.

John Harcar (12:47.15)

Okay. Is there anything, is there an obstacle or anything in your business that, is, you know, you have to overcome to get to that goal or maybe holding you back from getting that.

Himanshu Jain (12:59.159)

I think it’s just, as you said, networking. think the key thing now is, because this is different than what you are buying for your oscillators, right? This is very different. This is different in the sense you’ve got to, yeah, you’ve got to meet with a lot of new people and that’s what I’m working on. I’m trying to build my base right now.

John Harcar (13:08.514)

Yeah. Yeah, 100%.

John Harcar (13:18.603)

Mm-hmm.

Himanshu Jain (13:19.241)

in collaborating with lot of investors who have already done this. I’m working with investors who have done like, have like thousands of units of their own. So I’m working with them. And then I’m collaborating with my friends and other people who have been asking me that they want to invest with me.

And as I said, you know, I’m investing with I’m kind of working with big brokers, you know who specialize on the commercial side and I’ve been looking at a lot of different properties. We are going through the underwriting. So that’s what I’m doing right now. We can go look at, you know, the things that are available in the area in Chicago and St. Louis area where it makes sense for me and I’m underwriting and trying to find a good deal that would make sense for us.

John Harcar (14:05.518)

Do you see any specific trends happening in real estate here in the next year or two?

Himanshu Jain (14:10.487)

I think the uncertainty right now has kind of changed things quite a lot. So it’s very difficult to know, especially with all these tariffs and things coming up now. You know, I mean, it’s kind of difficult at this point of time. But I do see in the coming years, you know, because of just because of this status, I would say that I think the affordability is becoming more difficult. So definitely there is an opportunity for multifamily to better.

John Harcar (14:19.704)

Right.

Himanshu Jain (14:40.007)

I know the rents have been kind of going up, not so in St. Louis, I would say, in certain pockets of St. Louis. I know a lot of people are heading towards Southwest, Florida market, and a lot of other markets. But I think for me, I’m more conservative. For me, a real estate is a more tangible asset. It’s more local.

And I think I want to stay that way for now at least. At least my first two acquisitions I want to be in an area where I’m more comfortable. I know the back, the area as well as my back of my hand.

John Harcar (15:16.002)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

Do you, because I know I see it here in Boise. I talked to lot of people I see in Florida and know in Florida and Texas. Have you seen a lot of Bill Terrent out there?

Himanshu Jain (15:29.269)

I’m seeing a of construction here in St. Louis too, but it’s slowing down now. mean, even in St. Louis, you know, I’ve seen in last.

John Harcar (15:32.887)

Man.

Himanshu Jain (15:37.825)

couple of years there have been some new construction that has happened. But as the trend forward is, think those are getting absorbed and the construction is slowing down. So I think it’s still a good opportunity for existing assets, you know, for people to do a value add. If you can find the right kind of deal, that’s one. And the other thing that I’m noticing, and that’s the reason why I took a shift is this debt implosion that’s going to happen, right?

John Harcar (16:06.99)

Mm-hmm.

Himanshu Jain (16:07.543)

I did my loans in 2022 and I think those are due in end of this year now. And I’m sure there are lot of people like me who have their loans which are going to be due by end of this year or next year and with interest rate being so high. If you have not underwritten the property correctly, you’re going to be in a distressed situation. You’re going to some kind of a situation. So that’s the I think it’s an opportunity as well. And I think that’s where

John Harcar (16:29.262)

Yes.

Himanshu Jain (16:36.629)

Yeah, we just got to find the right deal, know, which whether numbers make sense. Yeah.

John Harcar (16:43.502)

Make sure you buy right. What do you think over the years have been your keys to success?

Himanshu Jain (16:50.773)

I think my keys to success has been, as you said, buying right. You if you do your due diligence upfront and you look at the numbers and make sure that the numbers work out, you know, your exam, don’t just go and make assumptions that things will happen. You’ve got to see, you know, the property has to work, the numbers have to work. So that’s one thing.

The second thing that I’ve learned, as I said, from my property manager, finding and having the right property manager right is very, important. And the third thing is you’ve got to make sure that the tenant base is happy too.

At least that’s my philosophy. That’s my work is I want to make a space. want to be proud of the space that I have given it to the tenant. I want it to be a comfortable living for them. I want to make sure that it’s not just all about money. It’s about creating community, creating a space for people that they can call home. And that’s important to me. Yeah.

John Harcar (17:47.587)

Mm-hmm.

John Harcar (17:54.36)

love that. For anybody new getting into the business, besides that stuff you just shared, which is incredible, is there any other advice or anything you could tell them that might kind of get them in the right path, set them up for success?

Himanshu Jain (18:08.949)

I mean, a lot of my friends ask me, and I think a lot of people ask, is this a good time to get in the real estate? And yeah, my thought is every day is a good day. The day you decide you want to be in, I think it’s a good day because it’s such a long-term play. It’s not a short-term play. You’re going to be there for years to come. And again, the things will change. You’ve got to be persistent. You’ve got to stay at the game. As long as you stay in the game.

John Harcar (18:15.436)

Yesterday was.

Himanshu Jain (18:38.099)

and you learn and the key thing is you got to recalibrate. Every time things will change, that has been my journey, right? I mean, my company’s called Recalibrate Capital, right? You’ve got to keep your eyes open. You’ve got to keep looking at, constantly watch how the equations are changing and then you’ve got to recalibrate. You’ve got to adapt. Yeah, you’ve got to pivot and you’ve got to pivot and you just do the right thing and just keep going.

John Harcar (18:43.149)

Mm-hmm.

John Harcar (18:56.622)

Yep. You gotta pivot. Yeah. You gotta pivot.

Yeah, no, I love it. I love that. I love your mindset. That is, I mean, I truly believe that’s only way you’re going to survive in this world or this business, especially if there’s folks out there listening to this and you kind of resonate with them on some, some of the stuff you’re saying, or maybe they want to talk to you about doing some business in St. Louis or wherever. How do they get ahold of you? You know, what’s, what’s the best way to get in touch, whether it’s your socials online, et cetera.

Himanshu Jain (19:30.795)

Yeah, so I’m on social media, I’m on Facebook and my website is recaleecapital.com so they can reach out to me. I’m also starting my YouTube channel. I just recorded my first YouTube video a couple of days back. But I’ll be doing more of those. I think I want to share my learnings with people as much as I can.

The idea is if I can positively impact others, I think that’s what I’m looking to do. Just work, collaborate with other people, and do things bigger and better with other people, and just something which is good for all, for everybody.

John Harcar (20:09.678)

I it. I love it. Love the mindset love, you know love everything about this conversation guys. I hope that you Took some good nuggets from here. I mean, I know I did I’m taking some notes while I’m you know, I’m on this And reach out, know, there’s something that you know You think you learned today reach out to him on to him and talk to him more If you got deals you want to do business with reach out to him, but you know bring this guy some love Thank you guys for all being here. I want you. Thank you for being here

And we’ll see you guys on the next one Cheers

Himanshu Jain (20:40.427)

Yeah, thanks John for having me. Cheers.