668: 10 Units in 3 Years and Giving Back While Getting Ahead w/Zasha Smith

This is the biggerpockets podcast show 668.

I feel like educating people on what exactly it is we do as real estate investors is very important. We're not out there buying deals for really low price points and then reselling it for really high without doing any work in between. A lot of times people don't know we buy homes that are in complete distress. They might have abandoned cars in the front. People might be in some sort of financial situation that they can't get out out of. And we're providing different solutions.

What is going on, everyone? This is David Green, your host of the Biggerpockets real estate podcast, here today with my co host, Rob Abasolo. If I sound a little different, you're not crazy. Today I'm recording from Scottsdale, so I don't have my normal audio and video equipment. I'm here in the casita of the house that Rob and I built because I freaking love this place and love being in the area. So we're recording the podcast. I'm in Scottsdale. Rob's at his normal place, but we're gonna have to keep this intro short because somebody has to go to Austin, Texas, with his W because they are lazy and don't want to work.

That's true. Listen, listen.

We've.

We have two children. They're one and two and a half. And we have never vacated. I think that's how you can. We've never vacationed away from them ever. This is gonna be our first. We're gonna leave tonight, leave Thursday. We're gonna be back on Friday. We're scared. We're. We have faith in my parents to pull this off, but to be honest, I've been sweating bullets thinking about it. But it's gonna be okay because I'm gonna try to relax, which is something I never do.

Today we have an awesome episode for you. We bring in Zasha Smith, who is invest with Sasha on Instagram, sort of has a little connection to Brandon Turner out there in Maui. She's a Maui investor. And you want to make sure you listen all the way to the end because we tell a very funny story of how Zasha took a deal right out of Brandon's grasp. Recently, I've become addicted to these, like, horrible short videos on Instagram, which might also be on TikTok of, like, crazy animals in Africa doing insane things. So you'll see, like, a lion come steal food away from a hyena or a crocodile take food out of another crocodile's mouth. And that was what reminded me of with this deal that Zasha talks about is that Brandon thought that he had it and then boom, at the last minute she got it and she tells us exactly how. So you can do it too. Zasha is passionate about giving back while building wealth and I love it because she doesn't have, it's me or you, I have to get ahead or I can help you get ahead. She's getting ahead while helping others. And she does it in several ways. She does it by providing affordable housing to her local community. She does it by providing mentorship and knowledge through the partnerships these she's in and the masterminds that she attends. And she often approaches how to put a deal together in a way that works for everybody with a lot of integrity. So if you're somebody with a strong conscious that wants to find financial freedom, but you worry that doing that is going to make you a bad person, Today is a fantastic show for how you can put that to ease and see a path that you can take that helps other people while helping yourself. Rob, what were your favorite parts of today's show?

Well, you know, typically I would add in like, you know, how the, the community aspect was great and how she's crushing it on the content. But my wife did just text me and she said, don't dilly dally. You have to pack. So I'm just going to say everything that you said was actually my, my favorite part. It was really nice to honestly, legitimately hear the human side of real estate. I think that's something that, that is very important for people to learn. Don't you know, again, we're all chasing cash flow. We all want that. But she really tells a story about how it's like human first, right? Be personal with people and treat them like people. And if you do that, you can have really great success in this field.

I want to get a T shirt made that says Chase Excellence, not cash flow.

How about the cash flow will fall, don't dilly dally. Chase excellence. We'll workshop it.

I was actually going to make a reference to your use of dilly dally because it's equally parts impressive and embarrassing that you were able to work that into a show. Rob, the 28 year old guy going on 77 every time we record.

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Let'S go places before we bring in Zasha. Today's quick tip is consider making real estate your job. There's so many ways that you can make money in real estate other than just owning it and getting cash flow. And you can flip houses. You can work for somebody else. Sasha has an acquisition manager that works for her who is the hero in the deal that she took from Brandon. You could be A real estate agent, a loan officer, a title officer, a construction person, a bookkeeper. There are so many ways that you can make a living through real estate. And the reason that I'm advising you to do it is you want the life that Rob lives. You want to be able to get in a car with your wife and take off to Austin and go to other places and not be thinking the whole time, oh my gosh, I'm using all my pto. This trip is costing so much money. We can't stop and get corn nuts on the way because we're spending all of our money in gas. What you want to be thinking is, I'm going to take a trip, and on this trip, I'm going to make more money in real estate than I spent to go on it. So I get paid to take a trip. Real estate offers that flexibility.

You know, I don't want to brag, okay? I've tried to be as humble as I can here, but we are actually taking a bus to Austin, Texas. It's Vaughn Lane, apparently. It's nice. I don't know, I gave you too.

Much credit by saying, well, you said.

We'Re getting in the car and going. We're actually taking a bus that apparently serves food and drink. I don't know, I've never heard of it before, but should be fun.

Just want to remind you, ask yourself the question, how can you make an impact as you build your wealth? It makes the journey a lot more fun as well as satisfying in the end. All right, enough of listening to me yak. Let's bring in Zasha and Zasha Smith. Welcome to the Bigger Pockets podcast. This has been a long time coming. So glad to have you today, today.

Aloha, everybody.

Aloha.

So for those of you who don't know, you can follow Zasha on Instagram at. Is it InvestWithZasha? Is that the handle?

Yep.

Zasha and I have been sort of like, aware of each other through online things. I think we met briefly in Maui one time and now we get to have her on the show. Zasha, can you tell us how you got started in real estate?

Well, I feel like I'm just the average person who was working there. W2. I had been working as a civil engineer for 10 years and I was working 60 to 70 hour weeks going in on Saturdays. I seen my boss going in on Sundays and thought to myself, this is gonna be my life. I'm now gonna be working seven days a week on a 40 hour a week salary. And I wanted A change. And so I basically, you know, started googling something silly like how to get rich and quit your job or what is the top way to build wealth. And I found out that majority of the people that that had been coming up had some sort of stake in real estate. And so from there I stumbled upon Bigger Pocket, started listening to the podcast, going on the website, connecting with other investors, started attending meetups and really gained that confidence to know that I could buy rental property. Because I live in Maui, Hawaii where the medium home price is over a million dollars. So I never thought of owning anything else but my own home. And so that kind of opened up my mind to see that there were other ways to buy these properties. I didn't just have to qualify using my job or using my income. There are other ways to leverage debt. And so from there I kind of just started buying properties.

Okay, that's awesome. So can you tell us a little bit about what your portfolio looks like today and then just a little bit of that trajectory over time as well.

So right Now I have 10 rentals. I have nine long term and one short term, all here on Maui. And it averages about $10,000 a month. So it's not $1,000 each property. My short term rental brings in about 3,500 to 4,000amonth, which basically makes up my nine other long term rentals, net cash flow, which that ranges between 500 to 1000 depending on the type of loan that I have on those rentals. And then I also do a lot of fix and flip. So right now I have six projects going on. One is here on Maui, there's one on another island, and then the rest are between Arizona, Georgia, Florida. I've been partnering as a way to scale the flipping business and have that active income versus trying to do everything myself. So in the beginning I think I was a typical investor who was very hands on. I was working my W2, I bought my first flip, which is a condo here in Maui. And I was just using logic at that point. Right. So I found it on the MLS. It was listed at 300. I think I was using Zillow at that point, contacted a Realtor who is also an investor and said, hey, what are things selling for in this area? And he said, well, there's a comp at, you know, that just sold for 450. So I thought to myself, well, it can't be that much of a difference between what it takes to fix it up and actually make money. And so that's kind of my, you Know, indirect way of getting into real estate without overthinking it. Because I think a lot of first time investors get into that analysis paralysis. But for me it was just thinking logically and then taking action and using the resources that I already had in my circle and basically using the mls, which is available to everyone if you have access to the Internet as far as like Zillow, Redfin and those other public sites. And then from there I bought my first rental. I inherited a tenant, but initially I think it was cash flowing net 300. I bought that also off the MLS, use a conventional loan, and went through the process of trying to find them another place, trying to raise the rent. Kind of did it on my own self managed. And I found it to be very rewarding in the end because I was willing to work with them until they were able to qualify for affordable housing and buy a house of their own versus just kicking them out from the start, giving them the 45 day notice. Even though I now cash flow, you know, between 8 to $900 a month, it was more so helping these people get to the next step as well.

That's amazing. So can you remind us just for reference, when was that very first deal? Like how long ago was that?

It was in 2019.

Oh, wow. So really you've built a great portfolio in a few years here. And that very first deal that you were talking about, that was a flip, is that one that you sold and then you went into a long term rental?

Yes.

Awesome. So I think this is the question, right? Everyone always says, like, how do, how do I get started? When you're getting into your flip, how. You know, obviously as someone that, that you were saying you're going based on the logic and you're like, all right, it shouldn't cost that much more to fix it and then make a profit here. Was this all self funded getting started? Like, how did you actually get into that very first deal?

So that was also used. And this is not advice for anybody getting started using a conventional loan. I had no idea that you couldn't use it to flip properties. So I qualified using a conventional loan and then used my own funds for the rehab. It was about 30 grand. So that was manageable for us. And I was the typical person going to Lowe's on my lunch break, meeting contractors after work, paying them cash, just, you know, doing all the things they tell you not to do. So if you're getting started, definitely look into hard money or private money or something else because after that point, moving forward, when we Sold the condo. My lender was like, hey, you said this is going to be a rental. And I was like, yeah, that was the initial plan. However, we pivoted into selling it short term and after that he didn't give me any more loans. So.

Well, that's okay. We're here for you if that's what you need.

That's.

I mean, I guess because people don't realize this, but if. If you buy a house with a loan or you refinance a house. Sorry. If you sell a house that was bought within six months of getting the loan, the lender has to pay back all of the money that they made, but they don't get compensated for all the time that they put into it. So that's why people can get a little salty if you end up selling a house or refinancing within the six month timeframe. Little quick tip for everybody out there who may wonder, why did my lender ghost me and get so mad? I don't understand. I made the right move. They don't ever want to tell you that, but that's usually what it is. I am fascinated by an element of your story, Sascha, where you hear everyone talk about wanting to do what you're doing. There's people that listen to podcasts, there's people that see this online. They follow the people taking the action, but they don't actually get out there and do it. What was it about your personal story that gave you the drive to take action? Where other people sort of think about it and talk about it, but they don't be about it?

Definitely. I think growing up in low income housing and just having that perseverance throughout my life to look for something better, look for a way to give back or help people that were in my position, helps to drive me to get to that next level. And so even while I was working my W2, I always thought about what it would be like to have more. I'm getting into this engineering job to be able to live in an expensive market. But is that the only reason why I'm working? Is it to build wealth for my family but have no time with them? I was trying to find that balance or that median in order to be able to, you know, basically live a life of perseverance and make an impact at the end of the day. And whether that be to my family or my community, I was trying to find that way to pivot into that from the engineering job.

And how do you feel like? Well, first of all, I guess I want some Clarity here. Are you still working your W2 job? Are you still in the field of engineering?

So after I bought my first flip and my first rental in 2019, at the end, I ended up joining a mentorship and then quit right away In January of 2020, right before the pandemic. So I don't know if it was universal timing that said, hey, I'm going to give you the hardest year to try to get into investing and you're gonna run with it or you're gonna fail. So it was definitely a challenge getting started in 2020. I had bought a my first multifamily and my whole goal was to wholetail it. I ended up, you know, having to pivot because the person who was gonna buy it, he shut down his office, he was gonna buy it, he was a doctor and going to use it for his nursing staff. And so during the pandemic shut down and I was kind of forced to keep it. However, that's one of my best deals yet. I'm cash flowing probably about almost $4,000. And it's a fourplex, so. And it's majority of the people who live there have section 8 HUD or some sort of rental assistance. So it's a very fulfilling property to have as well. And every time I go past it, I just am happy that I learned to have different exit strategies. So quick tip for everyone. If you're getting started or if you're looking at a deal, always look for multiple exit strategies that you could use just in case one doesn't work out.

So you mentioned it's, it's a fulfilling property. Why is that?

I feel like it's come full circle. So because I came from low income housing, I'm now able to help these people who have low income or maybe fell on hard times and are accepting assistance because it does take a little extra paperwork working with government offices and you know, on my part, sometimes I have to wait till the 5th or the 10th of the month to get paid. So you have to be willing to wait a little bit longer and put in a little bit extra work to work with these affordable rental assistance programs.

Is this something that you, I mean, because obviously you're, it kind of relates back to your upbringing and everything on that kind of stuff. Is the section 8 component of real estate. Is this your way of sort of giving, giving back? Is that like a big driver for you? Is it something that's kind of very familiar to you and you want to kind of help others in the way that you, you were helped when you were growing up, like tell us a little bit about that because I think it's really important. I think it sounds like there is purpose behind your story and I love to hear that because I think a lot of us will lose sight of why we're even doing this in the first place.

Yes. So when I was growing up in the low income housing, it just taught me very much to be humble, but also to strive for a better life. And I know things happen to people in their lives, whether it be death, whether it be, you know, some sort of health condition that falls upon them or they get fired from their job and now they don't have any income. So I understand how it can happen to people and people always are asking me, you know, what do you do to prevent yourself from. I've heard all this bad things about Section 8, that they'll trash your house. I said they're like any other renter, right? You have to vet them. So run your background checks with them, check their credit score, talk to their current employers and previous employers and same for their landlords. So if you vet your tenants correctly then everything should fall in place. Of course it's not a hundred proof but, but at the same time give them a chance like everyone else and vet them. But also, you know, stick to your standards. And one thing that I do differently with my tenants on section 8 is I let them know, hey, I understand where you're coming from. This is my property. If anything happens to it or, you know, it directly affects my family. And I am hoping that, you know, we have, we built enough rapport with each other that you understand where I'm coming from. I'm going to be a great landlord to you if you be a great tenant to me. We're working together on this, so it's more so of us working together that will help them sustain, you know, a place to live. Because a lot of people here don't accept Section 8 and it's for that exact reason is they're worried about drugs, they're worried about non payment, they're worried about, you know, them trashing the home and everything like that. But I don't look at that first. I look at that after I vet a few of them.

A lot of us came from backgrounds where we didn't have everything we wanted. And the drive to get ahead often comes from pain in our past. And everyone has some form of pain they can tap into. It's not like it's unique just to you. But then I've noticed that while Your past can be the fuel that can help you overcome the obstacles to get the future you want, like what you're describing. There's also traits that sometimes we develop in our past that do not help us when we're getting to the next level. So I feel like a lot of successful people have to navigate the waters of what do I hang on to from my past? What do I have to let go of to think differently? Can you explain a little bit about what your specific journey was like with how you reconciled those two things?

I definitely am still working through a lot of things I think I went through during my childhood and then also during my young adult years. But I think I still struggle with that as far as using that as my drive. But now where do I go now that I've kind of made it to a level where I don't have to worry? I've reached my financial independence number. I don't really have to build a bigger portfolio. How do I keep myself driven to wake up every morning and definitely move forward with my journey? It's. It's definitely something that I've always struggled with. However, I feel like I just think about the amount of people that I can help, and that has helped push me forward as far as being the driver for me now. So every person that I get to help on their journey, help them even start to think differently. Because a lot of this I found, is your mindset. I never really thought about it until last year. I went through Steve Rosenberg's mastermind, and he was really heavy on mindset. I didn't know how much that affected me. I thought, you know, I could just do one deal at a time. But he taught me to open up my mind and be like, hey, why don't you shoot for these bigger goals? I'm like, oh, well, I want to know that I can achieve things. And so he really got me to think bigger. And I think a lot of people are stuck in that. They're just looking right directly in front of them instead of ahead. And so I think that helps drive me, is helping other people to see the bigger picture.

Yeah, I love that It's a really honest answer, and I'm honestly, really glad that you said you're still working through it, because I'm honestly in a. In a similar place. Like, my parents are immigrants from Mexico, and they are a lot of what drives me, and that is a big part of my story. And people are like, well, why do you still keep working? You don't need to work. Like, haven't you figured it out? Like, you know, you. You seem like you haven't figured it out, but, you know, I'm like, I don't know. I'm still working through all this. Like, I just want, like, everybody to be taken care of, but then I have this, like, complex, you know, where I'm like, well, I want to keep helping people. Like, that's a big part of my platform as well. And so mindset is definitely something that is constantly evolving for me. I know that you're really big into this, like, you just talked about, but you're also, you know, really big into, you know, masterminds and getting help that way and evolving your mindset. What are your thoughts on investing in that type of thing and getting help that way versus learning the hard way?

I feel like if you have a lot of time, definitely go through all these things, you can go through all these things on your own. However, if you're looking to scale and really cut your learning curve, going to masterminds, being a part of mentorships, going to events, will help give you the network and connections that you need in order to get to your goals quicker. So for me, I always try to. The biggest tips I can give people is to make connections, whether that be going to virtual or online meetups, whether that be going to paying, you know, money and investing in yourself for these programs. It definitely comes back tenfold, even for me. I just went to the Maori mastermind this last week, met, you know, millionaires and billionaires and people making a lot of money, but was also able to connect with them on a, you know, personal, human level and be like, look, these are things we're all struggling with and we need to be able to help each other. I was definitely the smallest fish in the room, but I also had the largest social media following. So you'd be surprised on how many people came up to me asking me about that component. So really think about, too, how you can add value to other people when you're going to these meetups or when you're making connections. Think of something you're good at and how you can use that as a platform for you to help them and in turn, they'll remember you.

Yeah, you know what?

I'm so the smallest fish in the pond, and I love that there is so much to gain from being the smallest fish in the pond, because once you are the biggest fish in the pond, it's very hard to find anyone that can help you and teach you. And so for me, I like surrounding myself by People that are much smarter. And there is always the stigma of education and mentorship and masterminds. But I'm just like, no, not really. You want to surround yourself with people that have similar goals. Because I think, personally, there is just nothing more inspiring than being in a room full of people that are as on fire as you are, or even more on fire. I just actually was talking about a similar thing, Asha, where I was in a room at a conference one time in the green room, in a room full of millionaires and billionaires. And it was so crazy because they were just regular people. And I think that's like the crazy thing, because you elevate these people to be super brilliant computers, basically. And then you talk to them and you're like, man, you're just a regular person. And you figured it out and you're smart. And you're like, I'm smart, too. I think I can figure this out. And I think it's like, unlocking that. Right. So are you still a part of masterminds and mentorships, or is that something that you continually invest in?

Yes, every year I try to at least go to four different events. I am a part of a few mentorships, and Ryan Pineda's Future Flipper program is how I started my journey. They're the first mentorship I ever joined. And I was very hesitant at the time. It was, you know, $10,000 to join. I was like, oh, but I could learn all this stuff on YouTube or I could do this on myself using bigger pockets. And it was hard for me to dish it over. But it also gave me more motivation to make sure I made the most out of this program. I was going to come out of it, you know, with achieving my goals and just connecting with as many people and making those personal connections as I could, because I was like, oh, my gosh, this is a lot of money for me, going from doing it all myself to now dishing out all this money. It. It makes you motivated to make the most use of whatever program you're in, especially if it's a lot of money to you, then why would you waste it big time?

I mean, that's honestly what it all boils down to. And I mean, there is so much free content out there, right? There's like the podcast, there's the YouTube side of it. I think really the core nugget of it is always, can you take action? And is there something that you can do to take action that will really fuel you and really, you know, set you on Fire to kind of pursue these goals. So I know you started scaling up, you know, from from where you started to. Now can we, can we start talking about, like you said that you started partnering up with people. You live in Hawaii, and then you said you had a place in Arizona that you're flipping and then another place somewhere else. How does that all work? Like, why are you partnering up with people to scale? Like, what is that strategy?

So basically my goal is not to build a big wholesaling or flipping team. I want to essentially split roles by partnering, right? So we do majority of the time, I do equity splits. So whether it's 50, 50, 70, 30, depending on if the capital partner, capital raiser, or they need me to qualify for the loan because they've never done a rehab loan, say they own a few rentals or they need me to manage the contractors or walk them through escrow process, or they are experienced investors and they say, dasha, it's Wednesday and I need $300,000. If you can raise this or bring this by Friday, I'll give you some equity in this deal. So I think there's a lot of value in.

Being that person that they can come to. And also, I never wanted. Flipping was never my goal. My goal is the passive income. But along the way, if there's opportunities to make some active income along the way, then I'm more than willing to do that. And also helping other people get started. Of course, these are people that I've connected with, known for a while, met through mentorships, or we have a connection with each other to hold each other accountable. It's just not. I'm not partnering with random people, just to be clear, but they're bringing some sort of value or deal. I'm checking with my network, maybe in that area or in that state, in that market, and being like, hey, this person brought this deal. Is it good or not? They have the CMA from the realtor, they have the contractor bids. So they have all the details of the deal in place in order for me to make an easy decision.

I was just about to ask you, how do you choose the partner you're going to get with? Because the concept of partnering is very different than the practice of partnering. It sounds like you're meeting them through these same groups that we're talking about.

So majority of them I've either met through mentorships or my community. And of course, each partnership is different. You could have all these numbers align. However, once you start working with them, you'll see their personality or more their morals, integrity, where their decisions lie. And then you can decide if you want to continue working with them or not. So I think it's very important, one, whenever you're thinking about a partnership, to talk about communication, to see where they're at as far as what decisions they're going to make or how they would think about a certain situation. And then two, definitely getting something written down on black and white, what your role is and what their role is and what the expectations are. Because I think that's something that's overlooked. And they're like, yeah, this would be a good idea for us to partner. However, once you get in it, you thought that person was supposed to do something, and they didn't. However, nothing's written down, then it's harder to keep each other accountable.

You know, I've noticed one of the big hesitations. And to be frank, I was the same way. Like, I didn't want to join gobundance because at the time, it was like $6,000 a year. And I was just, I don't want to spend the money. I don't have to do that. I can read a book to learn it. And I had that mindset for a very long time. But then when I joined gobundance, I got put in touch with a person who got me a line of credit at a bank in north Florida that ended up leading to 35 properties that I bought that they financed that I wouldn't have been able to normally do. And through that process, I learned a whole bunch. I wrote the brrrr book. I taught people about brrrr. Now every partner that works with me in a deal gets all of the knowledge that I gained from everything I did brought into what they're doing. Like, Rob was just talking about a deal we bought, and he got to watch me kind of teach our realtor how to negotiate it. And now everything that I know goes into Rob said. Rob now applies that to all the deals he does. It builds this exponential momentum when you get around the right people, because everything that they've learned and spent money to invest in, you get. So I didn't just pay $6,000 to join GoBundance. I paid $6,000 to get access to the hundreds of thousands of dollars of money the other members had spent developing their mindset, learning things, and partnerships sort of function that way in that same way, too. Do you mind sharing with us some of the things that you've learned from partners that you've brought in? So you didn't just give up 50% of the equity, but what you gain from the other person and how that helped your business.

So majority of the time, I'm the one teaching someone else or helping to bring these newbies up to their first deal. Like in 2020, I had partnered with someone or became an accountability partner with someone and helped walk them through their first wholesale deal, help walk them through a first flip partnership together, and then now they're off and doing it on their own. So that experience in itself helped this person take off on her own. So if you think about it, it's getting to do deals together, but also having someone to walk you through, getting their connections. If it's their contractors, their escrow company, seeing who they use for their lenders, getting access to them, and then also having that safety net if anything were to go sideways, you know how to get through and problem solve and find a solution. So I think that's the biggest key takeaway when you're partnering, is that you get to leverage each other as far as finding a solution for that deal and making it happen.

Yeah. So I've done a few partnerships. Can you. I want to. I want to ask you first, maybe I'll give an example here. But are there any. Any things that you've learned the hard way through a partnership? Was there ever a moment where you're like, oh, probably won't do that again, and it doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the partnership you have now, but just a learning that you can apply for a future partnership.

When partnering, it's very, very important for you to define your roles. And for me, I always thought partnering with contractors would be the greatest idea because that's most of the time, the biggest headache as far as dealing with projects is the renovation. So I've partnered with a few contractors that didn't really work out because they don't understand the investing aspect. They see us purchasing a house at 600,000. We're selling at a million, but we're also putting 200,000 into the renovation of we're also paying money costs. There's a lot of costs that go into these projects that people don't really understand that we don't just want. It's not the sell price minus the purchase price and the renovation. There's a lot of costs in between. And so even when you're partnering with people that are, let's say, contractors in the deal, they're putting their sweat equity in. That's how they're contributing to the partnership. But there's so many other moving parts that they may not understand. And no matter how much you try to explain to some people, they just, you know, it doesn't register. And so at the end of the day, they might feel like they're getting the short end of the stick and vice versa. So that's what I talked about in the beginning, is being very clear on the roles and who's doing what. So everybody's on the same page, but at the same time, you know, some people think that what they're bringing to the deal might be worth more than what you're bringing to the deal. And so that's what I've learned from partnering with other contractors, is that it doesn't always pan out the way that they really think it is. And once they realize, oh, my gosh, you're not making that much money, then, you know, they decide not to do any further deals with you, and then vice versa.

Yeah, totally fair. I mean, I've. I've been in the situation where we did very clearly lay out roles and expectations, and so that partnership has always worked out super, super well. But the one thing that I've realized with a lot of the partnerships that I started in is I just didn't future proof myself. Like, I didn't. I didn't really plan for the future because it was a really good deal at the time. And I was like, great, I'm going to do all the sweat equity. I'm going to do all the work. And at that time, it was great. Like, it was gravy. But now with the way that my portfolio has grown and the way that where I'm moving to in real estate, some of those roles and responsibilities really just don't make as much sense for me. And I just didn't have the foresight to really know, like, hey, in two years from now, if I'm successful at this, I'm going to be super busy. So, you know, I should probably think about that. And so that's one thing I always try to tell people, is that exact thing. Because really, if any tension ever starts to build up if you're not super clear about those roles, if one set of partners believe that they're doing more work than the other, it can be a little bit tougher to maneuver, you know, all the way through. So I know that you've been doing this a bit, and I also wanted to ask a little bit about the mentorship versus partnership component of it. Are you ever going into a partnership specifically with the intention of mentoring? Is that just part of the job? Is that Something that you're doing less now that you're a more seasoned and experienced investor.

Yeah. So in the beginning, when I first started partnering, because I never partnered before, I had done maybe about seven or eight deals before I ever started partnering. So for me too, the first partnerships that I had, I didn't really know what I was doing or how was it was supposed to be. And so I took the spot of more so mentoring people into being comfortable investing. So now it's very clear roles, okay, this, I bring the capital or I qualify for the capital. I'm the one making the monthly payments, whether it be holding costs, utilities, that sort of stuff, turning on the utilities, coordinating with escrow girl, and then you are the one who's the boots on the ground, coordinating with the contractor, making sure the timeline and the schedule is on par with where we're supposed to be. So it's very clearly defined roles. And if they ever want to know anything about what I'm doing, I definitely share that with them, but not necessarily take them through every single step just because I have way too many deals going on to be doing that with every single person.

Yeah, yeah. And obviously that makes a lot more sense. Getting started and you're kind of working. And just for the record, I don't think that there is any bad partnership when you're starting to. When you're getting started, specifically because you will learn so much. I think the, the cost of education there or the, the benefit is education. Like a lot of people, they'll see deals that I've done and they'll say, well, hey, I know that you partnered up with somebody and you gave a 50% equity and they got 50 and they put up all the money. I want that too. And I'm like, well, hold on, hold on, hold on, little one. You can't always demand 50% when you're getting started, especially if you don't have a track record. If an investor comes to you and says, hey, I'll front the money, I'll do the financing, but you're only going to get 25% or 15%. I'm totally fine for a new investor to take something like that because it's the experience of working with an investor and with a partner that's valuable in your first deal more than the cash flow that you'll ever make.

I totally agree. And especially when you come at it from a humbling experience. Hey, I've have a lot of people who intern, want to intern with me. Hey, I'll do this for free. But Essentially, too, you have to think about what are. What are you good at? And what value can you bring to this experienced person? Because they could hide. They probably have VAs are ready to do things. They already have systems and processes in place. How can you add value instead of making them work harder to figure out, okay, what are you good at? Where can I fit you into my business? You gotta make it easier for that person. But also think about the amount of experience you're going to get or comfortability and confidence in yourself. If you see somebody else doing it, know exactly their process and how they're making it through this business. You can be like a fly on the wall or help them do paperwork or something like that and just be around. That's extremely valuable. I wish I had somebody when I first started getting into this business like that, but I didn't know what I didn't know. And I went to these meetups and I thought everybody was doing their own deals. And especially when you go to competitive lead generation, like going to the courthouse steps, going to auctions, everybody has the mindset of, it's me against you. Right. So that's the mindset that I had coming in, was everybody was to each their own. And recently, after joining mentorships, it really opened my eyes to the power of collaboration and having an abundance mindset. If you can win and I can win, why don't we work together? If you have a strength and I can help you with something that the deal needs, such as capital, why don't we work together, do our individual roles, and then we can both make money. Right. So if you're trying to do this whole entire business on your own, you will quickly get burnt out, or you will quickly, you know, find out that in order to scale, you need other people.

Yeah.

I mean, the abundance mindset, I think someone once told me, like, you get nothing out of being competitive with a friend or a partner. There's enough out there for everybody. And I think as soon as I heard that, it just sort of unlocked this. Like when I was like, oh, man, it's so true. And so, because a lot of people, you know, like on YouTube, I talk about all the stuff that I do. I talk about how much money that those investments make. I talk about markets. And I've had so many people that are like, are you crazy? Why would you give away all your secrets? Like, now you're just creating your own competition. And I'm like, I mean, there's like millions of homes in the United States. I think I'll be okay. I think it benefits people to learn and do it the right way because you know, there's a little bit of integrity that we have to like teach people on how to do this, how to do this the right way, how to Real Estate correctly if you will.

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Zasha, I think that you, the mindset work you've done has clearly had a very significant impact on how successful you are. It looks like every time I follow you, you're exponentially increasing how successful things are starting to fall into place. So I can see that that investment is starting to pay off. Talk to our community, tell us what exactly are you doing? What does your day look like as far as how things are structured and what type of stuff catches your attention. You go, ooh, I like that person, or I like that situation. I like that setup. I'm gonna put more attention into this versus the just amount of stuff that hits you in a day that you realize that isn't worth my time and attention.

What has completely changed my life, I feel, is a morning routine because I have a family, I'm a mom, I'm a wife, and I'm also an investor. And it is very easy to get run down by the day. So waking up early, I wake up at 4:30 in the morning, then I quickly, I just jump out of bed and start working out, get that done, write my affirmations, that gives me confidence going into the day. And then I write down the top three things that I gotta get done to help me stay focused. Now this doesn't always happen. There are days where I take breaks. However, for majority of the time I try to stay consistent with that. And then from there I go into asana. I use that for my team. As far as my social marketing team, my investment team, my VAs, we all coordinate in that platform and figure out, okay, what do I, what are these tasks that I need to do for that day, get that done. And then from there, if there's any new deals or new leads that come in, then I evaluate that, see if that's a market that I want to get into, a strategy I want to use, or maybe it's potential for long term cash flow. And so recently I've been really getting into RV parks. And so I'm entering into a partnership that they live in that area, they know they already have properties in that area and they want to partner with somebody to bring capital. And so that is where I'm seeing my role as far as an investor go is to not necessarily focus on a specific strategy, but focus on a specific role in a deal. And so that's what my role is going to be moving forward. I'm trying to see if I can start a fund because it is hard. Once you sell a property, give the funds back to your Private investors and then all of a sudden you contact them for another deal and then the money's gone or they use it for something else or they decided to renovate their bathroom in their house. So I've been finding that getting into other bigger, higher level.

Strategies has been the way that I have to go now.

That's really cool. So is that your, your kind of method for scaling? Because obviously you were doing a lot of the flips, you're partnering in that capacity, but now you're looking at RV parks. I'm doing something very similar here. Are you doing that? A, because it's A really cool, I mean, I think RV parks are fascinating. But B, is this just your, your path towards scaling?

Yes. So it's, it's one of the paths. So last year I bought my first short term rental and it has made, you know, almost just as much as nine of my long terms combined. So it just opened my eyes to the possibilities of doing these more hospitality sort of investments versus the long term. I'm still going to do the long term investments, but it's been harder. I feel like everyone now it's a bit more of a struggle to find deals. So if I can get into these hospitality sort of RV parks or, you know, Airbnbs that can essentially make the deal still work without it having to be a long term investment, then I'm gonna jump into those. So I don't know if that was a good explanation for that, but that's definitely what I'm thinking about. The path to me is being that person, figuring out what role, but not really concentrating on the strategy. So I'm still open to bigger, you know, multi unit apartment buildings and other strategies. It's just focusing on what is my role, what value can I bring to that deal that will benefit everyone?

Yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like you're out there. I mean, you're teaching people in the community. Obviously you're very active on social media, you're getting information out there and you're, you're effectively mentoring the masses. Right. So they often say that you are as good as your reputation. It looks like you're, you're killing it basically. And I wanted to ask from your perspective, like, what are you doing in your life and your role in your real estate career to impact the local community?

I feel like educating people on what exactly it is we do as real estate investors is very important. We're not out there buying deals for really low price points and then reselling it for really high without doing any work. In between. A lot of times people don't know. We buy homes that are in complete distress. They might have abandoned cars in the front, people might be in some sort of financial situation that they can't get out of. And we're providing different solutions. And a lot of times we put, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars into renovating these homes and then of course, selling them for a profit. However, when you own a home, you get to choose who you sell it to. So you could potentially sell it to a first time home buyer. You don't always have to go for the highest price price or the person that has the most money or is coming in for cash. You can choose to work with someone who you feel will bring value to that community. And that's how I found a lot of people when I do buy these homes, ask me, or while we're in renovation phase, come up and say, hey, you know, we would love for you to put a local family in there because this is the vibe of the community and we want them to contribute and not just move here and then, you know, find an another place, move out. So there's different ways where you can have an impact without, you know, compromising your morals or integrity and also adding value to the community. And then as well, for the rental side, right, for long term, you can choose a Section 8 tenant versus someone willing to pay, you know, a couple hundred dollars more if you're at the regular rental rate. It all depends on your financial goals and your financial situation. However, I'm at a place where that's important to me. So it may take a little bit more footwork working with the HUD offices. It may take a little bit more time to get their rents in on time, but I'm willing to work through that in order to keep with my goal and making an impact on the community and adding value.

And do you find yourself, do you think you'll continue investing in affordable housing as you continue to develop your, your real estate portfolio and your career and everything?

That's definitely my goal. Especially being from Hawaii and it being so expensive. I knew that when I was going through high school that I had to go to college and in order to move home, I had to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer to be able to afford to live here. And so with that in mind, I definitely want to build an affordable housing project or have an affordable housing subdivision here in some sort of capacity. But I know along the way I, I still have to build wealth and make connections and have that in my, I Guess tool chest in order to do these bigger line items, do these bigger, I guess, envisions of projects.

That's awesome. Yeah, that's, that's. I mean, that's impact. Again, that comes down to purpose. And I think, you know, a lot of people, I think if you just always focus on the financials and the money, like, that's fine. Obviously, you can have a successful career. Doing that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be fulfilling. Right. So it's really encouraging to hear that you're out there doing this. I'm curious, I know you probably work with a lot of potential sellers. Like, what's your process for working with different potential sellers out there?

So anything found off market? When I'm working direct with the homeowners, I asked them, you know, hey, a lot of times it's referrals. So people refer me to other people. And that is. I'm huge on reputation, especially being from a small community on a small island. How you do one thing is how you do everything. And so when I approach them, I asked them, hey, have you talked to a realtor yet? Have you thought about getting a personal loan if they're in some sort of financial situation? Have you talked to your family members? Can they help you? Do you need me to mediate that conversation? I have a network of lenders and realtors and other people in this business that might be able to help you. And then if, you know, you want to work with me, I'm always the last option. I want to know that you've explored everything and I am the reason why you need to sell to me. Not just because, you know, you wanting the cash offer or I want to know that not necessarily I'm the last resort, but you've checked all the boxes before you came to me.

Well, that's cool. That's something you don't hear every day. Genuinely, you want to, hey, I want to be the last resort. Right? That's really cool that you're actually helping people through that process. Again, it's a human element. I mean, real estate, you're dealing with humans every day. You got to treat people like people. It's the only way that you're going to have a fulfilling, successful career. I mean, again, I guess you could do it without doing all that and be successful. But it's like, do you want to make money or do you want to make money and be fulfilled? Why not do that? You can have both. You can have both in this industry. And I think that's something that People always lose sight of when I feel.

Like this is a lot of relationship based, whether it be working with other investors, whether it be working with sellers or other people. You know, the escrow company, the title company. It's all about relationship and trust. And so my biggest deal, for example, came from me partnering with a seller. I had no idea that that was even a thing that you could do as far as being creative with it, until I found out later on through mentorships. But the seller actually wanted to partner with me and say, hey, will we get a little bit more money if we, you know, hold the loan and then you do the renovations and then we sell it. And so that was an instance. That was my biggest deal, honestly, was they had brought this partnership aspect to me and now it's called. A lot of people refer to it as a novation, where the sellers still own the property, they hold it, and then you bring renovation funds. So we had agreed on a price of about 450. I brought 200,000 in private lending funds. We fixed it up and it sold for about 975. And so I had let them know, hey, initially the ARV was 850, and now the market has just gone way high and now we're able to sell it for 975. Are you okay with the initial amount that we agreed on? Because if it went the other way and it went down, you would still get that money and they were fine with it. They are definitely a different type of people. It all depends on the relationship you have with the owner, especially when you're getting creative like that and you don't, you're not, you don't own the home, so you don't have that much control. However, if your relationship is good with the owner, then that's a different way to kind of make it work in an expensive market and also partner with sellers.

So in your method of making sure that you are giving back more than you ever take, you have to three things you're focusing on, and that would be partnering, which is giving mentorship to people through deals. So you're sort of pouring into the individuals that are learning the game that we're playing here. Investing with integrity, which is giving without expectations, and then providing affordable housing for people that are not aware of how the game works, but still need somewhere to live that's affordable, right?

Definitely.

I think that's wonderful.

I want to build wealth and then make an impact too. So I think that's the underlying yes. And you don't have to be Perfect. And that's what I'm saying is that you can use your resources to go through things. I think there's been people throughout my life who have given me, you know, the insight or courage or confidence to be able. I had no idea about finances or loans or debt other than buying my own home. But as far as investing and doing all these things, it was just people along the way. Maybe lenders, the title company. I had no idea how to partner with sellers until I went through the escrow company. I said, is this a real thing? And so they helped get the legal paperwork together. They said, as long as you and the seller on the same page, then we can draft up whatever legal documentation you need. And I never really thought of that before. I always thought the traditional, like investors buy things with cash. They use hard or private money and, you know, that's the only way. So again, it's just asking people along the way, being curious. Right. And so I think that's helped add a lot to my journey as well and help me scale because I'm not afraid to ask questions.

This has been very good, Sasha. A ton of actual, easily repeatable content that people could follow. I'm gonna move us on to the next segment of our show. It is the world famous deal deep dive.

In this segment of the show, Rob and I are going to fire questions directly at you one by one and learn about a particular deal that you've done. So question number one, what type of property is it?

It's a single family.

Awesome. Question number two, how did you find it?

Driving for dollars with another accountability partner.

Oh, this is starting to sound familiar. Question number three, how much was it?

375,000.

Question number four, how did you negotiate it?

I had an acquisitions person negotiate the deal and they were actually had the house, owned it free and clear. Had a few liens on it, but were able to walk them down because they had previously talked to a realtor who said they had to clean up a bunch of the items that were on the property. They didn't want to do that, so they were open to working with an investor, taking it as is.

Awesome. And how did you fund this deal?

All private money.

What'd you end up doing with it?

I ended up keeping it, using the Burr strategy, getting all my money back out, paying back the private lender, and essentially just wanting to add another building to the property. It's called an ohana. So that is our goal right now. We ended up splitting the single family into a duplex. It was a two Story. So we split that and then now we're going to build another duplex on the same property.

I know an ohana unit, if you haven't heard of it, is what they call an adu in Hawaii. It means family. So it would be like if you wanted your mom and your dad or your mother in law to live in your property, you'd build them an ohana unit. My last question, what was the outcome on this deal?

We have multiple exit strategies for the deal. And so right now we have two renters living in it. One renter actually is a church member of Brandon Turner, which his wife's best friend lives right next door. And then also on the bottom unit is a lady who is waiting for her Hawaiian homelands home to be built up country.

Awesome. And what were what, what lessons did you learn from this deal?

Be quick to act. So this deal was actually.

When we were driving for dollars. We seen it, we got the deal and decided that we're going to mail them, we're going to leave our cards there and then eventually coordinated the buying the property after that. Whenever I buy a property, this is a good tip for those who are just starting out or maybe seasoned investors, something you never heard about. But I give my card to each and every neighbor that is around that area to let them know, hey, if you see something suspicious, please let me know. Or if my contractors are have parked in your area or are making too much noise, you know, you can always call me. I'm the new owner of the home and I definitely am trying to add value to your area and also to your home. And so it was funny because the lady next door, I guess was Brandon Turner's wife's best friend. And she ended up calling Brandon and say, hey, do you know this girl, Sasha Smith? She just bought this house. And so he messaged me and he said that he was actually looking at that house for a while. They drive past it almost every every week. He had been meaning to knock on the door, been meaning to contact the owner, but just didn't get around to it. So I ended up getting the house and now have, you know, it's renting right now for around $6,000 a month. The mortgage on it is about $500,000 a month. $500,000. And we pay about $2,300 a month for the mortgage. And so it ended up being a really good deal and recently just appraised for a little over a million dollars. And so he was a little sour about that.

Yeah. So everybody listening, go Message Brandon on Instagram and tell him to listen to this episode's deal deep dive and let him see to the victor, the spoils. All right, I actually have one last question. I was wrong. Last question from me. In this deal. Who was the hero on your team?

Definitely my acquisitions person. So it happened to be the. She had been wanting to invest and start her investing career, had been in a mentorship, but never took action. And so we became accountability partners because even as a seasoned investor, it's nice to get out there and be reminded of, you know, the different ways you can find deals, not only through cold calling or texting, especially if you haven't door knocked in a while or you haven't driven around, you know, the neighborhood to go look for deals. And so she had coordinated, you know, contact with him, coordinated closing the deal. And I walked her through the steps of the title company escrow and all of that. So Tereva Jacobson is definitely the hero of this deal.

Thank you for that. And be sure to check out the bigger pockets marketplace where you can find your next hero to help you on your next deal. All right, we're going to move on to the next segment of the show famous for.

Question number one. What is your favorite real estate book?

Of course I'm going to say Brrrr Strategy by David Green. If I feel like don't reinvent the wheel, right? Like if it's working for other people, then just do the same thing.

There you go. That's a way to bring a little bit of coal.

Gotta say. I agree. I agree.

Yeah, Rob agrees because that's the only real estate book he ever read, which I actually am not mad about, because if he's only gonna have read one, I'm happy that it's mine.

That's right. It's. It's also the best real estate book I've ever read. So very important.

Number two, what's your favorite business book?

The also Common Rich Dad, Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

Awesome question number three, what are some of your hobbies when you're not building your, your real estate empire?

Hanging out with my kids, definitely, number one. But number two, I just started spearfishing. And so I oftentimes, like everybody else, get caught up in working, you know, building wealth, looking for the next best thing, investing in, you know, other deals. And you can't take me away from my laptop or my computer. So reminding myself to go to the beach, me and my husband started a new hobby of spearfishing together. And that has not only Got me out of my own way as far as taking a break mentally from work, but then also built our relationship closer.

I've always thought that looked like a blast.

It's really fun.

Not for the fish.

I guess the spear comes out as a blast. So there's probably a pun in there somewhere. All right, question number four.

It is a blast for them, technically.

Yeah, right. What sets apart successful investors from those who give up, fail, or never get started.

Surrounding themselves by like minded people or people ahead of them and also helping other people. And so this is what I try to put forth, especially through social media. Educating other people and letting them know that just because people are ahead of you or doing all these great things doesn't mean that you can't. And so putting out little tips like that, connecting with people and also, you know, I had mentioned to you guys before this episode that you can instantly connect with people on social media. There is a power of providing value through there that people don't even realize. So I connected with David Green, with Brandon Turner. I messaged Robuild a few times. I don't know if he's seen. It might be in his hidden messages.

It might be. That's right. Hey, that's a callback.

But it's definitely a way to connect with people that I never even realized had, you know, initial power to it. So I think if you're just starting out, of course, don't blast people, but find a way to add value. You can instantly connect on social media. And I know that we all post and add value. So really take in what people are giving out for free and what's working for them.

Awesome. Well, first of all, let me just say that I followed you and I sent you a message and I haven't heard back from you. I did send that message like 30 minutes ago while we were on the podcast, but it is there. Can you tell us more where people can find you on the Internet if they want to learn more about you, connect with you and all that kind.

Of good stuff on bigger pockets. Definitely that's where I keep a profile of all my deals that I have going on now at Zasha Smith is my handle name on there. And then also on Instagram @InvestWithSasha where I have a big platform always down to help. I have people helping me with my messages to get started and guide you on the biggest path. And I always speak about bigger pockets. So it is an honor to be here and be on this podcast and add value. Be uncomfortable, be being comfortable, being uncomfortable. And just know that you guys are not alone in this journey. It is very hard for me, being a civil engineer for 10 years behind a desk, to put myself out there and often connect, but I found it to be the most valuable and most rewarding part of this journey and making an impact.

That's so cool. Well, David, what about you, man? Where can people find out more with you, connect with you, all that kind of good stuff?

Go follow me at David Green 24. Very easy screen name to remember. Also very boring, but, yeah, pretty much everywhere. And then on YouTube, I'm @David Green Real Estate. Also very boring and very easy, but got a social media company that's been putting out posts, and I try to put new stuff. So, like, when I'm out here in Scottsdale, I try to post things, showing what's going on behind the scenes, and I'm doing more of what's happening in the personal world. So, Zash, I think you do a really good job of that. Actually, I want to mention it. You don't just post looking at this house. Look at this deal. Look what I did. There's like a kind of a mix of this is who I am as a person, and this is who I am as an investor, which probably isn't a coincidence because as you said, you want to give back and you want to build wealth, and that kind of comes across with the way that you're posting. So make sure you go follow, invest with Zasha as well as me. And then Rob, where can people find you?

Oh, you can find me on the youtubes at Rob Built and then Instagram Rob Built as well. And TikTok, you me do funny dances. You want to see me do funny day? I'll do it. All right. On the TikTok at Rob Bilto. I also do them on Instagram every so often. You know, you catch me dancing. They're not good, but I will dance. I'm not ashamed.

Do you do the robot? Is that where Rob Ilt comes from?

I don't do the robot. No, I don't. But I just had a video pop off of me conducting a choir, and that one was my best performing video ever. Fake choir. It's not a real choir, but go watch it. It's funny.

I saw it. It was very intense. I've never seen that intense side of you until I saw that.

Well, hey, the beast exists within. You just got to let it go.

Don't let that flower shirt fool you. There's a beast behind that cloth. Zasha, any last words? Before we let you get out of here.

Definitely. I think the overarching theme is giving back, building wealth, but also making an impact. And if there's any way that you can make an impact on your community, definitely try to do that. Whether it's your time or money, just remembering where you came from or that other people don't have it as good as you and trying to help them elevate.

Thank you for that very much. This has been a great podcast and I hope everybody listening takes that to heart. You can actually win bigger and do better when you help other people along the way. It is not us versus everybody else. It can be us with everybody else working together. So thank you for spreading that message, Josh. I completely second it. This is David Green for Rob the Beast behind the Flower shirt. Abasolo signing off.

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