Gratitude, Grit, Authenticity and IMPACT!

Welcome to ladies Kicking Assets. Robin and I are so glad that everybody has come to join us. We have an incredible guest, incredible, incredible guest. I have had the honor of listening to her speak on several platforms. She is trailblazing her way through social media and the apartment asset class. And we are super, super excited to have Sandra with us today. So welcome Sonja.

Thank you so much for having me.

Ladies.

I have been so inspired by both of you, especially from being part of the book Next level your life. You're on the COVID things very inspiring stories and I'm thrilled to be here.

We are all co authors in this book. So it is, it was a real privilege and I have really enjoyed reading your story and hearing about about your life as we have a lot to talk about. So many questions for you in such a short window of time. And so I would really love to talk about the essence of gratitude that you really speak speak to in your book. As I was reading that, I mean I, I, I almost got a little teary. It's like tears did well in my eyes. Because you talk about being grateful to be in the United States and so can you talk about that a little bit? Because we have so much that's on the news and on the media this these days for people who are so dissatisfied and unsatisfied and, and think that the government is terrible and you know, they're all owed something. And so you come from a place of just like polar opposite. You're just grateful to be here and what this country has allowed you to do. So I'd love for you to share.

I think the biggest thing for anyone is to try to live anywhere else in the world and see how easily you are welcomed, accepted and integrated into their society. Try it for a month, try it for six months, try it for five years. There's no other country on this planet that's going to take you in. Welcome you give you this many opportunities to go from rags to riches, quite literally from zero to seven figures. Are you kidding me? And this country, especially the state of Texas where I landed 33 years ago, has taken me and completely adopted me and let me shine in all the ways that I want to shine. I don't have to fit into a certain norm and I can shine the way I want to shine. And you know what? Where I started out as a teenager, I still remember that vivid moment. You know, we have these moments in our life that completely trigger and change. I remember this day. I grew up in Chennai in India and it was the monsoon season. We have pouring rain for many days in a row and I was a teenage girl looking out the window in pouring rain. And if I was to step out into the street level, I would be wading in knee deep water because drainage wasn't a thing there at that time. And both my parents are highly educated. I'm you know, your typical Asian geek with a strong math background and you know, come from a family which emphasizes education quite a bit. My parents have multiple college degrees, both worked hard in their jobs and they were making about 50 to 60 dollars US dollars per month. And that rainy day when I, when this moment happened, we had been without power for two days. And the water, we don't have hot water therefore, so we have to turn on this heater when there's electric power and then wait about 30, 40 minutes to get hot water so we could take showers. So there was no hot water. And even the drinking water, like the water that you would drink every day is the tap water is not safe enough. So we would go collect drinking water, boil it, filter it and drink that. So when you don't have power for two days, even though you have two working class parents who are highly educated, numerous degrees in the medical field, considered top and respected in their field, this is my lifestyle. I looked out and I said 20, 30 years from today I would have to work even harder than my parents.

And this is where I would end up. Surely there's got to be a better way. And that's what inspired me to look at the fascinating United States. You see, I had seen movies like Top Gun and Ferris Bueller, etc, that's what drove me to say okay, if.

People can live in places like that where you can have 24, seven hot.

Water, shower, electricity, you could have big wide lanes where you could have two.

Or three lanes of cars each. Oh yeah, yeah, like what the heck.

I mean I gotta find a way to at least visit this amazing, you know, little slice of heaven. And that's what motivated me to go and take my education more seriously. I was a teenager and boys and other things were more fascinating than my schoolwork. But I realized that with my parents income level, there was no way that I could afford a college in the United States, which even back then was at least 10,000 a year when you tuition plus other expenses and there was no way to afford it, so the only way was to go. I found that one uncle among all the people I knew back when Internet wasn't so prevalent to just find anything you want at your fingertip. Found him Waited for him, waited an hour to talk to him. And he gave me an idea of applying for college and getting a scholarship. And so I worked day and night to make really good test scores so I could get admission plus scholarship because just getting admission wasn't enough. And there was only one college that did both for me. And that's why I ended up in Dallas.

Yes. And you went, let me just say, to a very prestigious, expensive college. I said you.

Yeah.

And so that's amazing that you landed that and you just went for it. Your drive is amazing. You know, at such a young age, you didn't have any other way of doing it.

I mean, no other way of doing it. And what is funny is, even now, I recently visited India back in June, and there was a day when there was no power. You know, it doesn't matter if, you know, you have all the money in the world or you have all the conveniences, so called, if you can't have 24, seven hot water and air conditioning as an example, or just electricity to power on a hair dryer or something simple like they're a blender, I mean, what's the point of it, right? So when I come back to Dallas, I'm so grateful again because you know what? We've got four lanes of traffic with a median and I could drive at 75 miles per hour. The parks are free, the roads are free. I can just walk outside and walk to a beautiful creek and my kids can have the most fancy playground equipment at no charge because parks are truly free. I don't have to pay for all of that. Do you realize what you've got here? You've got to go live somewhere else for like a month or something to realize just how amazing this country is.

Yeah, it is amazing. Honestly, it. It is. We do.

And, and I actually was telling somebody the other day that we have so many conveniences and Americans are. I. I don't know if spoiled is the right word. I just feel like there's a lot of things that we have that we take for granted. And, you know, we have played baseball in some, you know, other countries and places. And I always make sure, you know, to take my kids to some of those rural areas just to show them how a lot of other people live. And actually we played baseball in the Dominican Republic several years ago, and Jaden's, he, my youngest child, such a sweet kid, he ended up donating all of his baseball stuff that he brought and he gave it to the kids that were there. And it's just Very eye opening when you see people in a. Literally just four walls and a roof with a dirt floor. And, you know, we just. I just feel like the convenience is one of the things that I do every morning is, you know, thank God for waking me and. And some of those days I'm like, thank you for the bed and the pillow that I have. You know, yesterday morning taking, you know, pick. Picking Jaden up from baseball, I was like, gosh, you know, thank you for the car that I drive.

I just.

We're very fortunate.

So fortunate. And let's talk about gratitude, you know, because in Kyle's group, we've all three. We're all three of us in his mastermind worked on that exercise where you fill a page with gratitude. And that is, you know, sometimes you have to start with the simple things. Like, you know, I'm so grateful. I just, I have air conditioning or a bed to lay in, a car. Internet. I've been without Internet for the whole week. And let me tell you how I am so grateful that two hours ago.

Yeah.

Yes. And you know, my kids are grow up here. They were born and raised here. They're kind of spoiled. I look at them go, each of you have your own bedroom. Yeah. And now you have your own bathroom. You don't even have to share. You know, in my. When I grew up, four of us, like me, my sister and my parents, we all shared one bathroom and there was one bedroom. So by daytime it was a living room. By nighttime, that was my bedroom. You know, so it's like.

Right, that's right.

It's a different level of gratitude when you're here. And I say, okay, I've already made it like thousand X where I started because I have a place of my own. I have separate. Each of us drive our own cars. I don't share a car with my husband. He has his car, I have mine. And, you know, gas is still affordable compared to all other countries on this planet. And you know, I drive these four lanes of highway each way and it's fantastic. I get 24, seven electricity, water, air conditioning, occasional rolling blackout. Very occasional.

Let me just say there's probably a.

Place nearby with a hotel which has a generator. My husband has a generator too. And, you know, it's pretty cool. So, yeah, gratitude. That's how it starts.

This is a great segue for us to talk about the space that you're in. You are in multifamily. And I, you know, you went to college, you got a degree, you went to work for a Large company. You were doing, you know, pen and paper to single, single family housing and realized that the multiplication factor of multi family made more sense.

Yeah.

So that really kind of is the impetus for getting you in that space. Talk about that. Because your communities are in the Dallas area where you live. And so that's unique.

Yeah. So Dallas is a great market for real estate and multifamily in particular. So I'm really blessed to live here in that sense that, you know, my market is exactly the market that I know so well from having lived here for over three decades. So that's a big blessing. I can check on my properties anytime I want. So last two days, each day I've been at a different property just because of something going on there. And the reason I picked multifamily is because of the economies of scale. So when you look at a single family rental, especially in an area like Dallas, you might net two or $300 a month, but you have to sign what's called a recourse loan, a mortgage for it. And if you have one repair or the tenant chooses not to pay for a month.

Yeah.

And you know, you're no longer profitable. And unlike the Bay Area or L A where your property value might appreciate significantly, that didn't really happen for the longest time in Dallas. So you bought a house in the 90s or early 2000. I mean, the appreciation wasn't significant enough to justify, you know, putting your money at risk for an investment like that. So, you know, stocks were much more profitable for me. But when you come to multifamily, when it's 100 plus doors, you don't have to deal with the day to day hassles of a landlord, which I call the four T's tenants, Toilets, trash and termites.

I deal with it. So I know.

So yeah, so I don't deal with any of that. I have a third party property management company that we employ across our properties who have local presence. And we employ a property manager, leasing manager, maintenance staff, etc. So I'm not getting the call of a leaky toilet on Thanksgiving morning, you know, have to repair it. So we have arrangements for all of that. And what that also gives us, therefore, is when one or two tenants are not able to pay their rent, you know, we factor that in. In fact, we factor a minimum 5%, in fact a 10 or 12% of vacancy in our first year of acquisition and then moving on to 8% or so. And that can be easily factored in and you can still be profitable just like, you know, when you cook at mass scale or, you know, you do anything at a larger scale, you have all these efficiencies built in and you can afford the smaller losses without feeling it, versus when one tenant doesn't pay, your income goes from 100% to zero.

Wow.

I love that. I love that. And you spoke to, you know, how you've really created communities, you know, improving the communities, and you've done some really special little things to make it feel like a neighborhood cul de sac and just, you know, a cozy place. Because these are people's homes, you know, even though they're renters and tenants, they may have some longevity there in your properties. And so I think that you know, what you're putting out into these properties and also what you're mirroring with your social media, which I'd love to talk about, that is really speaks to, you know, the things that you stand behind and you stand for. You are boots on the ground and Dallas area, and you are always posting from the locations that you hit. But one of the things that I've noticed so much about you and Courtney and I have talked about this is that, I mean, you really do post the good, the bad, and the ugly. I mean, you speak truth and you put it out there and it's really counterintuitive because so many people are, like, posting how great and wonderful it is and how easy it is to syndicate. Passive income comes from every single investment. And the truth is it doesn't, because stuff happens. And so really kind of talk about that. That what kind of moved you in that direction to just be a little more bold and brazen in that area.

I have always been honest and direct with people because it's too much work to remember all your lies.

Yeah.

And that's the reality. What lie did I tell person A versus person B? Like, what stories did I cook up? So if you're just honest about things, then I think it makes you more relatable, more authentic if you think you're always perfect all the time. You know, you see people posting these perfect lives on Facebook and Instagram, everywhere else, and then a few months later, you hear that they're the ones who are breaking up or they're the ones whose business is failing. And it's like, let's talk about all of it. Right? So in my case, I have great deals. I have deals that have done extremely well, and I also have deals that are struggling right now because these interest rates are just too high. Nobody predicted that. I certainly didn't predict that 10, 11 interest rate hikes in a row like that. Nobody predicted that. So my deals, I'm walking the tightrope on some deals. I'm also flourishing on some deals. I also made great distributions on my deals with fixed interest rate, like on the clock, like every three months. And I've got bridge deals where I had stopped distributions and walking the tightrope and hoping that these interest rate hikes at least pause by Q1, 20, 24, we've got an election year coming up, et cetera. So when you're authentic, like, let's just say that I pretended that every deal is going perfectly well. I have investors in the deals that are not going perfectly. What are they going to think? What are they going to say? Right? Yeah. They're going to say, she's completely lying, she cannot be trusted. Right. And so why bother? If you can't relate and be honest with people and they can't trust you, then you don't really have a relationship. Right. You just sort of convince them to invest once with you. You won't have repeat investment. I have people who have invested in five deals with me. Right. So you don't do that unless they know that I'm working hard for them. And sometimes, even when I work really, really hard, I don't get the results I want. Sometimes it's just like a holding pattern for a little bit. We're facing a lot of turbulence, so all I can say is we're holding on. And that's the reality of life. Life isn't perfect all the time. Relationships aren't perfect all the time. You got to work at it. And sometimes, you know, your strategies work and sometimes they backfire and you gotta go regroup and start over again.

Well, I love reading your post because it always makes me want to read more. Courtney, you're muted. We can't hear you.

Am I?

Thank you. Well, I heard you now.

Okay, perfect. No, your. Your post. You are literally my favorite poster of any syndicator that I follow. I'm serious. I'm not even just saying that because I, I love. I've never seen anybody talk about the communities they're building, the things that are going great, the things that are going hard, you know, how you're combating that, how you're dealing with. And I think even though, you know, we do go through those tough times, and even though they're tough times, there's still good things that come from that. There's still lessons that you learn and ways that you'll be Able to take that and do better. And, and I've had never invested. You know, when I started investing, I didn't know who you were, but I actually had decided like six months ago, okay, when I'm, when I'm ready to move forward on another deal, like, I'm definitely calling her, I'm getting on that list one way or the other.

Well, thank you very much for that. And the reason for the communities is because when I moved here as a student, you know, I lived in a C class apartment and I went to a very prestigious private college where you're going to use, you're going to see all these fancy cars, Mercedes and Porsches around. And it's in a neighborhood called Highland park that even today I can't really afford to buy a home there. And it's able to. But you know what I'm saying, when I looked over there, I could see these cul de sacs, I could see how kids lived in these neighborhoods, etc. And I wanted to be able to give that life to more people, not just the people who are born into a Highland park family, you know, so all you have to do to create that cul de sac environment is to build a community by making sure everyone knows everyone else around them. If you know your neighbors, you all have kids, you're probably living in this apartment because it's across the street from the elementary school go to. So you might as well get to know each other, look out for each other. And that way you also deter the bad apples from moving in there because you, you're going to be that nosy neighbor, you're going to report bad things happening. And it's so inexpensive to do these activities. I mean, how much does it cost to give every mom in 100 unit complex a single long stem rose for mother's Day? Or for that matter, you know, it's so inexpensive. Or bringing a Santa just to take photos around Christmas. Those are the things we would do, right? And I called us up, would you do for your kiddos? It's the same thing, like, why can't you bring an Easter bunny to your property? That doesn't cost much. I mean, when you think of the revenue that 100 door property generates every month and you have a marketing budget. This is the way you market your property by saying, tenants who live here, they love it here, they don't want to leave. And so financially the impact is that you have better retention, you have a safer community, and you don't have to spend as much money on Turn costs. So there's your financial advantage. But the heart of a PTA mom to want to serve and have baked goods. No. First day of school, let's go to a school supply drive. Let's fill some backpacks, let's have some breakfast on the go. Let's have popsicles by the pool on a Friday, you know, to celebrate, you know, the launch of summer or hey, you survived your first week of school kind of thing. You know, these are not expensive things to do. National night out to bring a police officer over there so they get to know their neighborhood police officer. And to have a fire truck on site doesn't cost you anything, you know, so people think these efforts are expensive and it's like, no, it's so nice and it's so fulfilling to see the happy smiles and laughter of children. So I try to go in person whenever these happen.

Well, that has such a big impact and I, I feel like communities have just kind of dissolved. You know, I really don't even know many of my neighbors and I think people are really looking for that community.

They.

They want to be connected and, and have that, you know, it's it.

It.

People are happier in that. And I love all of those ideas. You know, popsicles by the pool and, and you're right. Bringing in Santa and just doing those little things, those little, tiny little things that have such a big impact and, and you have no idea how that might have changed somebody's day or somebody's or somebody's month. I mean, that's incredible.

I love that this is their home. This is where they have their Thanksgiving and Christmas indefinitely. I mean, it could be 10 years before they can go move and buy their own single family home. So make them feel welcome. And another thing we like to do is maintenance Appreciation Day. Or I periodically get, you know, Chick Fil a lunch for my staff and make sure they, you know, feel comfortable airing all their issues and complaints to me and seeing what I can fix for them. Right. So, yeah, your employees, you know, you have tens of millions of dollars of investors money depending on employees who are paid normal wages. You know, talking 50, 60, 70K kind of wages. So, you know, you really want to take care of them because empowered employees are the best for any organization.

Yes.

100.

Well, you, you mentioned here, I'm just gonna give you another shout out on this that, you know, most people think of ROI as return on investment, but this is return on impact. And I think that that's powerful. I mean, that was just such a great way to to say that, well, we are. Our time is sort of coming to a close. But before we kind of wrap, I want to make sure we talk about one other point. And you know, you in this real estate circle for four going on five years, you've been around a lot of different people. You've been involved in different mastermind groups and you've explored some. There's been deals that have gone well and deals that have gone bad, and there's, there's some bad players out there, challenges, but actors. Not you, not you and not your deals. Let me be clear. But how have, how has that really kind of opened your eyes? Or how has that shifted your desire to be like, what do you look for? Because, you know, we become who we're hanging out with, who we're talking with, you know, and, and sharing those philosophies. So how has that really shifted that for you in this last year or two where you've had probably more momentum with your success?

I think the biggest thing is you realize very quickly who's authentic and who's fake and you avoid the fake ones and you go to the ones you can relate to. So are you standing and owning up to all of your mistakes and trying to do what you can to rectify it? Right? So that's a big one for me is to stand up and say, yeah, I didn't predict high interest rates, I messed up. So I'm not able to make the distributions I was going to make to my investors. So do they have the same values as you? So it's just like when you're in school, you know, to avoid the bad crowd, right? And you know, to stick with the good kids who have a similar interests or values as you do. And the same thing with grownups who you let your kids hang out with, when you can influence it, et cetera. It's the same way you find your tribe. You stick with the people and sometimes they surprise you and then you just regroup, reset, and you go back because, you know, I'm still full of, of hope. There are a lot of good people like the two of you. I just met you in the past year because of this inner circle and writing this book. So, you know, there's so many wonderful new people and so much hope in this world that you can get jaded by. They'll always be bad apples. It'll always be bad people in any business, in any aspect of life. You just gotta avoid them and keep going, just like you have in the past. You've done that in School, you've done that in grade school, you've done that in college, you've done other things, real life. So it's the same thing. You keep pushing, you keep, you stick to your guns and your values and don't compromise.

That sound so easy as I'm navigating some of my own, you know, muddy murky waters right now. It really is that simple. You know, you, you figure out who's got honesty and integrity and ethics and, and the people that don't, you, you scratch them off and you move on and you stick around with the people that do. It really is that simple.

It is that simple. Sometimes you get tempted or swayed by money or the so called power positions or perception, but the reality is a lot different. And if they can't be authentic, it doesn't matter that they happen to drive a Rolls Royce or own private planes or whatever else. If they don't have the integrity that you need, then they're not really your true friend anyway. They're not your tribe.

That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And time weeds out the bad.

Yep.

Well, wonderful, wonderful sage advice. Well share with our listeners and viewers today and how they can get in touch with you and get your information and access you for opportunities.

You can find me through these two lovely ladies, Robin and Courtney. Come follow.

Yes we can.

Yes, we will reach me through them but I post a lot on LinkedIn and Facebook. Facebook, those are my two platforms and I have a couple of different series that I do. One is called ACE passive acepassive.com where it's a passive investor monthly webinar. And I also have a small group program I launched called Ace Operators for those who are in multifamily and want to be hands on general partners, asset managers like I am because it's all about executing the business business plan and delivering results to your investors to keep them coming back.

Yeah, fantastic. Love that. Well, our time is here at the end and we just want to thank you so much for joining us today. And just remember that any information that you have heard to please consult the expert experts, those that are licensed, your CPAs and your legal team to see how these golden nuggets can fit in your financial schematic. And if you are intrigued by what you've heard, I would really encourage you to read this amazing book Next level, your life that Sandra and, and Courtney and I are in. And there are so many power powerful stories in there and this the story, the essence of your story about gratitude and grit. I mean just really was captivating for me, so I. I really love that. Thank you for sharing that story with us. So, till next time, our friends, we're Robin and Courtney with Ladies Kicking Assets. And our amazing guest today with Engineered Capital. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Was an honor being here.