Palak Shah | How to Build a Rental Portfolio That Doesn't Depend on You

What if scaling your rentals is not giving you more freedom? What if it's giving you another job? Because more doors can mean more income. But if every decision, every person, every problem still depends on you, you have not really scaled. You've just become the bottleneck in a bigger business. Today I'm joined by Palak Shah, a real estate investor who, after 17 years in corporate engineering, built a $10 million+ rental portfolio with her husband, designed to run in just a few hours a week. We talk about her journey from corporate engineer to investor, the leadership shift that changed everything for her, and how to get the best out of your team. And most importantly, how to use systems, leverage, and people to scale your rentals without creating another job. Let's get into it.

Welcome to the Real Estate InvestHer Podcast, a top 1% show helping women achieve financial freedom by investing in real estate.

And now your host, Liz Faircloth, Paula, I wanna start with the moment that changed everything for you. You shared something in the information you had sent us that was such an incredibly powerful defining moment for you that was not about a real estate deal, but it was about a realization. And I wanna read exactly what you said because I don't wanna miss something. You were sitting in your office pumping milk for your newborn after being told you would need to increase your commute and spend more time away from home. In that moment you said to yourself, I followed the rules, I did everything right. Why does this feel so misaligned? Can you take us back to that moment, Palak, and share with us how it changed the way you define wealth?

Yeah, I think the big thing about a lot of us who have gotten a degree and started working in the corporate environment is we think that that's gonna be enough. And we think that if we follow everything that the previous generation did, we're gonna have the same outcome that they did. But in our case, it's not the same because without building assets and building wealth, we are just going to do what we are doing in that moment for the rest of our lives. And I hadn't realized that until that moment. A lot of us are waiting till later to have kids. I waited till my late 30s to have kids. And thinking that financial stability, it means to have a good high-paying job. But then the higher up you climb, the less time you have for your family. It's actually counterintuitive. And so I was sitting there and I'm thinking, wait, this is worse than what I thought it was gonna—

Hold on, hold on. No one told me that this was actually worse. I get that, especially in such an emotional moment, right? You're pumping. There's a lot happening, right? So a lot happening. Yeah. And in that moment about your own journey and your own wealth-building strategy, what did you do next? I mean, so that was the kind of the impetus for leaving your corporate work and starting investing. Like, help us understand that a little bit because it's sometimes we get inspired and we don't necessarily take the action, but did you immediately take action in taking steps to build wealth?

Yeah, it's so hard to immediately take action, right? Because if you build something, if it works so hard to build something and then A lot of us, we also place our own self-worth on our careers because that's what's really given us this life that the previous generation of women didn't have. So it's hard to just make that decision. And I was raised by a single mom and she put everything on the line for doing what she had to do to get me to have choices. And I was like, am I letting all these women of the previous generation down by quitting my job? You know, I hadn't even thought about building wealth. I hadn't even thought about what I was gonna do if I had quit my job. So all these things started going through my head and I spent so much time agonizing over this thought that just didn't go away. And I would tell my husband, I think it was almost every day I was like, I have to do something different. This isn't working. But then what is that other thing? Because I had always been financially independent. I hadn't relied on anybody else for it. I was supporting my mom financially. And I was like, what is the thing that I will do if I stop doing this? So it's really hard to make that choice. You know, if anybody's struggling with this kind of a choice, I just wanna acknowledge that it's not easy for anyone to make that choice. And it's a big risk too. It's a, it's a huge risk that you're taking.

Not to be taken lightly. And, and you did. And so I know that you built a successful rental portfolio. And, and the, the interesting part about scaling a rental portfolio, right? Not just buying a single-family home, but you've scaled a, a rental portfolio. Most people think on paper, or they see it in HGTV, or they see it on, on social media, that by scaling and growing a rental portfolio, that automatically equals freedom, right? Freedom of, of time, freedom of money, et cetera. And so that doesn't always happen, as you and I know, right? The more sometimes we grow our portfolio, the freedom that we wanted is sometimes eludes us because now we're doing more. We're working harder than we ever have, even in corporate America. So for you, how does a rental portfolio that was supposed to create the freedom, especially as you left your corporate work, not just accidentally become another job? How did you do that part?

Yeah, I think that the big thing is really keeping in mind why I was doing what I was doing. And, you know, why is your why such a buzzword? These days, kind of like almost to the point where it feels cliché, but really keeping that as a north star and designing a business around the lifestyle that I wanted. And so every time there was a chance to make a decision, I always kept in mind why I was doing it and what kind of lifestyle it had to fit. And so what we did was started thinking about it as a business because a, a lot of us, when we first get started in real estate, we don't think of it as building a business. It's just acquiring rental properties. And most people in the previous generation, the, the way they had done it, especially with a scattered site portfolio, which is how we started, they have just been mom-and-pop landlords. And so really shifting that perspective from thinking about it as owning rental properties to owning a business, I think that really made a difference. And I give this example all the time. If you think about it, the CEOs of big corporations, they don't go out and do all the jobs. They have the exact 24 hours in a day that we all have. And so how are they doing it? Asking that question and applying business practices to real estate investing so that it can be run and The great thing about real estate investing is it can be relatively passive. You and I both know nothing is 100% passive, but it can be relatively passive where, you know, now I run this business in 3 to 5 hours a week and it's totally doable if that's your ultimate objective.

Yeah, I love that. So let's, let's break down when you say you thought about it, you thought about your, your rental portfolio as a business because that's so critical, especially for the women listening, especially for the women in, in, in the investor community. They have a handful of properties or even more, but it's not being run as a business. It's being more run as a, like you were saying, you know, that, that second job that's just taking all of your time and energy. The very thing that you wanted to have was, was freedom. And, and now it's like, okay, what happened to that? So, Business is big though, right? When we say, okay, I want to, I want to treat my rental portfolio as a business, there could be 25 areas that you and I can probably rattle off that are important in a business, but there's really not 25 that are actually the most important, right? We're going to talk— what are the key areas when you say, okay, I wanted to treat this rental portfolio as a business so that I can scale it? What are the top 3 for you that if you said, I need to do these 3 things,, and then this will run very efficient like a business. What were those areas that you focused on initially?

I think the number one thing is to understand that if I'm the CEO of this company, what's my primary job? And so as the CEO of a company that is a real estate development company, the goal is to scale a rental portfolio. My job is to grow the portfolio, acquire the skills that allows me to scale the portfolio. My role, my job, my goal isn't to learn how to patch a drywall, to learn how to DIY everything, to learn how to save $20 here or there. If I'm not doing my job, then the business stops. And so really putting that at the top, that's number one. Like, what's my real job here as a CEO of this company, right? Like, because if you're not doing doing that job that nobody else is doing that job.

Yeah.

Yeah. That's number one. Second is understanding that, and this is really hard. I don't know why it's hard for us as women. I think it's because we're just so trained to work hard and pick up the pieces behind everybody else, but understanding that it's okay to let go of a little bit of the profitability. To be able to be as hands-off as possible. So we specialize in the BARR strategy and we have our own framework, the Scale Framework that sits on top of BARR to make it super scalable and understanding that a strategy as complex as BARR involves multiple businesses. So if I were to really do everything from start to finish, and still wanted it to be ultra, ultra profitable, I would have to build a wholesaling business, a construction business, a lending business. I would have to learn all of that. And if I did learn all of that, maybe my one property would be very, very profitable, but I won't have any of the benefits of scaling it. And so Really knowing that letting go of that 10% that the general contractor is gonna charge to be able to do the project without you having to be at the job site, or letting go of that fraction that the wholesaler is gonna make so they can bring you a really good off-market deal, understanding that, that allows you to get the benefit and the profitability that a scaled portfolio does.

I, I love that. I, I wanna get into the scale strategy, you know, I wanna break that down with you. But before we go there, I wanna just kind of share something that you mentioned. Most of the time, I think especially when it comes to business, we think of areas outside of us, right? Accounting, which is, was critical. Systems and processes, critical. And it's quite honestly in the top 5, of course, finance, systems, processes. The one thing you said that connects to all three is leadership and team. And I think that is the area that most investors, when they start buying property and scaling their portfolio, they don't put as the forefront. So what I hear you saying, if I can paraphrase, and I really wanna like make a point of this, is that we need to become the leader so we can hire and lead the teams in the various, you know, areas of our business. I'm doing a luxury build here in my hometown in, in New Hope, Pennsylvania. And I've done new construction. I wouldn't say I, I've done a tremendous amount of new construction, but I knew I needed to build an A+ team who's done luxury on the river in New Hope. I knew that because I've built teams before. I knew that I, I couldn't compromise that. I couldn't just get like a B player as a contractor. I couldn't just get just get any realtor. I couldn't just get any architect. I couldn't just get any designer. I, I knew that going in. So that when you're scaling as well as you're, you know, trying to operate a project successfully, that's the ultimate. It starts with leadership and team. And I think that part of business gets missed a lot in this, in real estate investing. I don't know if you've seen it from other investors, but we're often like, well, what are they doing? And this is just the system that needs to be be in place and then I'm good. Well, who's managing the system? Who's managing the people? Yes. Right? Who's managing everything? You as a CEO, right? Doing yourself as a leader.

Yes, absolutely.

How have you had to grow yourself as a leader? How did you start? Where are you now? What has been the biggest area of growth for you that you're like, oh my gosh, this is what I had to grow through as a leader. I wish I started with this skill, quality, name it. I'm curious what has been for you, cuz you've been at this a long time. Just like me, what has been the one skill that you have now that you didn't have when you started or left corporate America?

I love that you asked this question, Liz. Such a good question. And that was the third thing I was gonna say is growing yourself as a leader.

Yeah.

And I have seen, I've been at it for a decade now.

Okay. I was gonna say longer than that. 'Cause I've known you a long time. Yeah. I was gonna say at least 15 years. So I was putting 5 years on that. Yeah, oh, you know what? I'll add 5 years. You've been at it 15 years.

Yeah, being a parent probably added 5 more years to that.

Correct, absolutely, absolutely. A lot of years we get added because of our kids.

Yes, but yeah, growing as a leader, and I, so I'm an engineer by trade, and going from being an engineer to taking this decade, you know, that I've been at it, I think that if I look back, The thing that, that really came naturally to me was building systems and processes, automating things, looking at the numbers, finances, deal analysis. All of that got me to the point where the first 4 or 5 years I built a $10 million portfolio. Now we have hundreds of doors all over the country. We run multiple 7-figure businesses and that wasn't because of those skills that I came with. The initial, I would say, $10 million portfolio was because of the things that I brought with me from the corporate background and applying the business principles. The real pivot and the real uplevel I saw in the last few years was when I learned how to work with people well. I knew how to hire and build a team and manage a team before, And I hear when business owners or investors talk about the issues they're facing with their team, I hear myself in them too, because it's taken me a much longer time than it would have had I not been an engineer, had I not come from that kind of industry. But once I did make that uplevel, it shifted the game completely for me. And that was the biggest thing was how to work on yourself so you can hire the best people, keep the best people, manage the best people, and get the best out of them. And this is something that it's so abstract and intangible that it's very hard to talk about it. You could, you know, it feels like a very abstract concept, but I'm gonna tell you like the same people that if I would've met them 10 years ago, I would have not valued them as much as I value them now. I wouldn't have been able to get the best out of them the way I get—

How do you do that? —that out of them now? I think that we'd spend a lot of time on hiring people and bringing people in, but that's sometimes the easiest part of it from the perspective, okay, they're in the door. So what one thing have you done to get get the most out of someone or really, you know, optimize the relationship, if you will, optimize them as a team member? What, what's that one thing for you that you're doing consistently across the board? I think working on myself.

So in our other business, we have a member success manager who, you know, makes sure that whoever comes into our world gets the best results, right? And she's been with me for, 4 years now. And then I started noticing a couple years ago that she was super fired up and she was doing so much more than she ever did. And she was excited about it. She was really hitting all her KPIs and beyond. And so I was talking to her on our, you know, weekly meetings and I was like, what's changed? Like what's been, you know, And she said, she said, "It's you." And I was really surprised by that 'cause I hadn't expected her to say that. And she's like, "It's you, you are fired up and you are so different with me and it's changed how I do the work." And I was like, "Wait a minute, I have that much impact on you? I had no idea." Wow. And you know, for engineers are emotionally stupid, so, It took me years to learn that.

I've never heard that before. Engineers are emotionally stupid. All right, we're saying it out loud on the air. Matt, sorry, but you know, you and I— Exactly what I'm thinking. I'm totally going to say that to him tonight. Quote, quote, my Pollock.

Yeah, use that every time things don't go your way.

I love it. I love it.

We're just so emotionally stupid. Like, I had to really learn how to understand that person's side, get myself out of the way so they can do their best, and, and get out of the scarcity mindset. I think that was always getting in my way when I was managing people. And I think that's what makes us really good investors. That's what makes us really good business owners because we know our numbers. We are really particular about our numbers. But then after a certain point, it was getting in my way. And working on myself and, you know, having a great, great mindset coach that helped me get through it, but really thinking about it from the perspective of that's a human, that person has needs and desires and they want to feel valued. And the way I was looking at it before was like, this is the job and them doing their job is just a part of the game, but we want so much more than just that in our lives. And so making them feel valued, making them see the big vision, making them understand how much impact they're having on the business just by being them, and knowing that you couldn't possibly do the things that they're doing for your business, and just putting all that into perspective when you're interacting with them. That has really shifted the game for me. And then, you know what, the A-players will want to work with you and stay with you because you're valuing them. You're actually filling their cup as well. Because in this world, like, all of us wanna be doing big things and good things. All of us want to make an impact in our own way. Some of us make to want to make a bigger impact. Some of us want to make a small, and that's all okay. Yeah. But Really knowing that and filling their cup has really allowed me to have a thriving team that just enjoys working on it. And I used to, when I had my, when I had a job, I used to have a boss like that. He always got the best out of his people. And I don't mean that in an opportunistic way. I mean that people loved working for him.

He saw the value. It's a couple of things. It's multiple things, right? It's like seeing the value in someone and also highlighting that value so it's coming out on a daily basis, not just in their job, but in their life. That's what it sounds like, being able to do that. And it sounds like the time that you're spending and the way of being, asking questions, I'm sure checking in on this person, spending quality time on some level, right? Not just getting down to the tasks matters, right? And so that's like, to me, foundational in order to scale a rental portfolio and not, not feel like it's just another job. Yeah, let's, I wanna talk about the scale strategy because that is a key. I'm, I'm gonna dissect that with you so women could put that in place so that they can scale. But just to highlight, if you don't put the leadership and team in place as the foundation, and to your point, valuing people in the way they need to be valued, You can put all the systems and processes in place and it means nothing, right?

Yes, absolutely. And I would even go next step and say that I've started seeing my team, each team member also as an asset. As investors, you know how we see our properties as an asset. You're gonna put work into it. You're gonna make sure that that property's well maintained. You're gonna make sure that's your asset. The team that you're working with, that's an asset. It's okay to pour into them. So that they can deliver the value that you're looking for.

And really looking at them that way. You've heard us say it before, real estate is a relationship business, and one of the most powerful ways to build those relationships is through meaningful conversations. That's one of the reasons we love podcasting. It's allowed us to connect with incredible women, build deeper relationships, and open doors to opportunities we never expected. But to keep the show running consistently at a high level, we don't do it alone. We have an amazing team behind us at Social Chameleon who handles all the behind the scenes work, the production, the content, and distribution so we can stay focused on serving you and growing our business. So if you've ever thought about starting your own podcast or taking it to the next level, they can help you do the same. With Social Chameleon, you press for record, and they handle the rest. Check them out at socialchameleon.us. That's socialchameleon.us. Let's dissect the SCALE strategy. I know that that's a memorable acronym, which is really smart for people to, to remember. So what do each of the 5 letters stand for? And let's, let's dissect that a little further.

Amazing. So, so we started off with a finite amount of capital. You know, a lot of us come into real estate investing, we don't have a trust fund. We started with a small amount of money and we found the BRRRR strategy and we loved it because it allowed us to take that finite amount of capital and scale it to a multimillion dollar portfolio. Great. As we started executing it, we realized that it wasn't really meant for the modern world. We loved it because it had which stood the test of time. It had been done for decades, all different market cycles. We thought it was really stable, we loved it, but it had to be modernized. So we built the SCALE framework to sit on top of the BRRR strategy to take every step of BRRR and take it to the next level. So every letter of the BRRR strategy corresponds to a letter in the SCALE acronym. So S, instead of just buying properties, the letter B is buy, right? Like just instead of just buying properties, S stands for scalable acquisitions and deal analysis. How do you do predictable deal analysis so you know upfront going into it how that property's gonna perform at the end? Can you cash out all your money? Can you cash flow even after cashing out all your money? And investing in areas where you are not just going to have to find a needle in a haystack, you can find properties again and again. Having that inventory, finding a neighborhood where you can do it again and again. So all of your effort of building that team and putting those systems and processes and understanding that market are useful again and again. The letter R is rehab. Instead of that, C is construction without the DIY. So we wanna make sure that the construction process that you build can scale, how to find vet and keep good contractors, how to manage projects so that they are always done. Yep. On time, on budget, and the quality is still good. It is a big one. That's a big one. A lot of us who don't come from a background where you were exposed to construction, that's like the biggest step for a lot of us. The second R is rent. Instead of that A in SCALE stands for adding cash flow. So how do you, instead of just thinking about, hey, rent this property and stabilize it, thinking about how do you do it so you don't have to take the late night tenant phone calls, but at the same time your tenants are safe and happy and the cash flow continues to add over time and you can stack your assets like pancakes. That's what I always say, like stack your assets like pancakes. Instead of just refinancing, the letter L stands for leverage and commercial finance. So moving over from conventional finance over to the commercial side so you have ultimate scalability and leveraging the funds that you have upfront. So the biggest issue that a lot of us investors face in the beginning is, especially if you want to execute a strategy like BRRRR, is okay, how do you, how would you acquire and renovate the properties. Where would you get the money for that? Sure, at the end you'll get all that back, but where do you get it upfront? And that is by leveraging your money upfront. So we work with short-term lenders, hard money lenders, private money lenders to bring the least amount of capital upfront and leverage it to acquire and renovate properties. And then the last letter is repeat. In BAR, but in SCALE, E stands for exponential growth. So instead of just repeating it, how do you go from doing 1 or 2 deals at a time to doing 5 or 10 deals at a time, or moving over to multifamily so you can have the advantage of scaling that portfolio? So that's kind of how the acronym is.

I love it. For women who are listening, what do you find to be out of the 5 letters the hardest one for investors to do when they're scaling, right? When they have a few properties under their belt and then they're getting to that next one, is it the more on the capital side? Is it more on the, you know, which letter and then what tool or system would you recommend for them to move through that and to improve it?

So when we are first starting out, it's hard to just get started and take that action and take the risk and understand the business. And then you do it a few times and you think, Oh, now I've got it down. I know how to make this profitable. I can repeat this again and again. My work here is done. I can just continue on. But it couldn't be farthest from the truth because now you've— if you have like 5 to 8 rentals, you feel like you're done. You feel like you've understood everything you need to understand. You feel like all the work that you needed to put into yourself, to grow yourself, to build this business is done. But that's when the real work begins. That's when You have to learn how to grow yourself, not just as somebody who can implement a business, but grow yourself as a leader in your business. That's when you have to learn how to really develop the skills so you can continue scaling that business. And it, it's counterintuitive to a lot of investors because that's when you feel like I've, I just finally figured this out. I can do this again and again. But if you wanna continue scaling, You really— that's when the real work begins at 5 to 8.

Because if you connect back from the beginning of, of, of our discussion together, talking about leadership, talking about team, then you talk about leveraging capital that takes a certain skillset, right? That's not just going to a lender and getting a loan. It's, it's much more than that, right? Especially if you're raising capital, leveraging money, maybe in another property to pull out. It's a, it's, you're talking to lenders, you're talking to bankers. It's, there's a leadership piece to that and, and you're navigating it as the key person of your, of your company, of your rental portfolio. And you're not just looking when you're raising capital, not just giving people, oh, here, you know, make a donation, right? People often talk like that when they're raising capital, but you're, people are making an investment with you. It's an investment opportunity, right? And it should be held as such. And that takes a certain level of leadership. That takes a certain level of confidence because confidence and leadership come together, right? Especially when you're leveraging capital, bringing money into your property. So I love that full circle, right? Those two pieces are going together because when you're growing your portfolio and you feel like it is just another— oh, this feels like another job. It's not just the tasks, it's the thinking, it's the strategic work that's actually necessary. And I really want to make that very clear to everyone. It's not just the how do I just get tasks on my to-do list and hire a VA. It's much more than that because you have to do the thinking, like the strategy work, right? As a CEO, as the leader, it's not just a task elimination is what we're trying to do. So I, I love that you pulled those pieces together. For women listening, Pollock, and they're taking this all in and they really want one action step to take from this episode, what would you tell them? They have a portfolio, they feel like it's becoming another job. What would be that one thing that they can do as a result of today?

So every time I have gotten in that mode where, and it's easy to do that, right? Because you're in the doing mode, you're in the execution mode. It's very hard to think back. I would say step away from it for, from your day-to-day for a bit. And if you don't step away and look at your business as an outsider, it's going to be very hard to be in it. You can't really see the big picture when you're in it on a daily basis. So one thing, a very tactical thing that you can do, I've done this for years, is theme my days. And not every day has to be tactical days. So if you have things that need to get done, no matter what level you're operating at, there'll always be things that need to get done. They're not big strategic things. There's always gonna be things like that. Yeah. Set aside a day of the week to do that. You don't have to be deep into it every single day. And so if you're not already doing it, theme your days. The way I do it is, I've gone back and forth on this, but I keep coming back to this, is Money Mondays. We do Money Mondays every Monday. I sit down and I do everything that involves me handling money. That's gone. Now you do Team Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, I sit down with my team. I make sure everybody has had a touchpoint that they need, any decision-making related that it gets done. And so keep going, whatever works for you, theme your days, but always, always have a day or two where you can think clearly, where you're not deep in it. That is the number one thing. And without doing that, it's gonna be very hard to see where you're falling short.

I love that. I do a State of the Union. I call it the State of the Union with Liz. And I do this on a weekly basis where I literally think, I look at my life, business, personal, professional, everything, and I just take a big step back and I ask myself some thought-provoking questions of like, what's working, what's not, where's my energy going to, where shouldn't it be going to? And it just brings things up for me, right? To think strategically. So can't, I can't, I love Money Mondays. I like that too. I might have to steal that. Paula, thank you so much for being on our show. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with everyone listening. Where can everyone listening learn more about you and follow you on your journey?

Well, Instagram is my jam, so follow me on Instagram @openspaceswomen. That's the best place to reach me. There's some free resources there. Come hang out with us. Awesome.

Thank you again so much for being on the show. Can't wait to see you again.

Thanks for having me, Liz. Good to see you. Thank you for listening. I hope you found today's conversation valuable, and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss anything future episodes. Share this with the women in your life that needs to hear it. I'll see you next week.