Faisal Sami

Faisal Sami Private Real Estate Investor Dear Friends, I have been around real estate for a long time since my father owned income investment properties in Minneapolis back in the 80s and 90s and I would tag along with him as a kid. In college, I managed all of these properties myself and made a nice little side income—especially from the coin laundry machines in our apartment building. Fast forward to 2009 when I decided to take the plunge myself as a real estate investor with my own capital. I jumped in with both feet with one of the “turn key” companies that promised the sky and the moon. After a few disasters with that company and 4 independent property management companies later, I decided to take control of my real estate investing business and became an “out of town landlord.” I can tell you many horror stories. But I can also share with you many of my wins. As a landlord, your position is much like the HOUSE as a Casino. The HOUSE puts up capital. The HOUSE takes losses. BUT——> The HOUSE always wins. This only works if you are actually the HOUSE and you don’t abdicate your position as owner to a “property management company.” The most important thing I can point out to you is this: BAD THINGS HAPPEN. SO WHAT? YOU CAN BOUNCE BACK One of the most important lessons I have learned in my past several years of real estate investing is this: Decide if real estate investing is a BUSINESS for you or if you are strictly looking for a passive investment for someone else to manage. If it is a BUSINESS for you and you approach it as a BUSINESS, you can be richly rewarded.(You still won’t be fixing toilets or getting 3am phone calls, or spending more than a few hours a week doing this as a BUSINESS.) IF you are looking for a completely PASSIVE investment where you hand the reins to someone else, you may want to look at mutual funds or other financial instrument that allows you more liquidity and easy access to your capital. I have had a profile on bigger pockets for years but have not posted much. But now I feel I have a lot to share and plan on doing so. Wishing you well in your real estate adventures! Faisal A. Sami 847-899-1478 Private Real Estate Investor