Chris Makes New Acquisition to Close $5m

We Flew To Meet A Raises.com Member Who Closed Millions on the Raises.com Platform

Transcript

(Being Edited)

Speaker1: [00:00:00] And listen, you know, again, congratulations and all that you were able to accomplish. I saw that it wasn’t something that was a walk in the park. It wasn’t easy. And but but listen, you did it. Congratulations. And hey, if if anyone wants to reach out to you for investor inquiries or something similar, where should they go? Yeah. We managed to fly down and just take a look at what you have going on here. And you just wanted to take the time to just walk through exactly what really is your story. And so I guess that’s going to lead book the first question. Everyone has a story. So what’s your story?

Speaker2: [00:00:43] Oof, I don’t know exactly how to answer that, but in terms of finance and investing, I just love realize it. I love defensible industries, right? Things that as human beings we can do it all. Talk about shelter, you talk about power, you talk about health care. We can look at COVID.

Speaker3: [00:01:05] We all stay at home.

Speaker2: [00:01:06] Yeah, but we survived because we got shelter. Good stuff. Because we got health care. We survived because we got power. So those industries I love those. I’ve been in those industries for the past 12 years plus now, you know. So I’ve been doing that before I moved to Canada in 2018. Since then, I’m just focusing on building my platform, my brand.

Speaker1: [00:01:30] Got it. Yeah. Yeah. And so with building and with these almost blue blue chip type of stable investments and stable, stable type of assets, why, why are you so interested in them and why is it something that you like? Is it the security or what is it?

Speaker3: [00:01:45] Well, you can say security, but at the same time, the focus is about capital preservation.

Speaker1: [00:01:51] Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:01:52] I don’t like shiny objects.

Speaker3: [00:01:54] Yeah, it’s about preservation.

Speaker2: [00:01:56] Of the capital and I can actually get.

Speaker3: [00:01:58] Sustainable returns. Yeah, that’s predictable. So if you look at real estate, for instance.

Speaker2: [00:02:03] Especially in a multifamily asset.

Speaker3: [00:02:05] That is predictable even with one year lease, but you can plan with that. If you look at power, for instance, if you have a power generating asset, you sign a.

Speaker2: [00:02:15] Ppa with that spark.

Speaker3: [00:02:17] Which is agreement. Yes.

Speaker2: [00:02:19] Maybe for instance, let’s say DC Hydro or Hydro One, that’s going to.

Speaker3: [00:02:23] Be for like three years, five years. And those kind of agreement is indexed against inflation. So you can actually plan on the cash flow from that. The cash flow is not.

Speaker2: [00:02:35] As robust as what you find in some people in venture capital where they make 30% on all of that. But the thing with defensible industry is that it is predictable. You can plan with that cash flow. It’s not as high, but you can go to bed and sleep properly. You don’t have to worry so much about what’s going to happen to you. You know, it’s not stock market where you lose your money overnight.

Speaker1: [00:02:59] Yeah, it’s not it’s not up and down like a roller coaster.

Speaker2: [00:03:02] So volatility. So I try not to use volatility, but volatility is not there. You know, the the swings are not there. You can’t plan with that. It’s predictable. The cash flow is not as I mean, the returns are crazy, but you can plan those. So that’s why I love Loss Industries.

Speaker1: [00:03:20] Got it. And I remember, you know, going back to even 2019, but around 2020, 2021, something maybe a bit unpredictable happen. So you manage to actually come across what was raised as an outcome. So what were you up to specifically? Right before we were able to meet.

Speaker3: [00:03:37] You know.

Speaker2: [00:03:39] The industry looking for assets and I’ve been talking to, I mean, some veterans in the industry, but I was looking for.

Speaker3: [00:03:50] A platform.

Speaker2: [00:03:51] Or individuals that I can bounce my ideas off, you know, not just, you know, attempts when you’re working on a deal or working on something, you took close to it to realize that there might be mistake here on our times when you’re working with an advisor or you somebody close to you, apart from your team because your team are so engrossed in it, they’ve been looking at it. I mean, certain things. Yeah. So when I came across.

Speaker3: [00:04:17] Through a friend, I came across the platform.

Speaker2: [00:04:24] So and I connected with you guys and since then it’s been, it’s been awesome experience for me because every time we go on the call, every, every, every Monday on Wednesdays, I usually attend the Monday ones. And you guys have always been there to just support and give your feedback. What do you think is missing? What do you think we should do or we should not do? And I think that helped us to get to where we got to in the three weeks ago.

Speaker1: [00:04:54] Got it. Yeah. And about three weeks ago. What is it that happened three weeks ago.

Speaker2: [00:04:58] Where.

Speaker1: [00:04:59] You were.

Speaker2: [00:05:01] Able to close out 44, 44 units in Edmonton, multifamily asset in Edmonton. That was a rough was a rough experience, I’ll tell you that. We had, you know, ups and downs. There’s some disappointment around that. But we were able to close. I think that’s what really matters. I don’t want to go into the nitty gritty, but one thing I would advise anyone that. Trying to raise money, especially in the real estate space. And you don’t have your investors lined up already. Even if they are lined up, get some commitment from them. And what I’m saying, commitment and commitment that the money is in the bank, whether it’s 10% or 20%, let it be in the bank. If you’ve had some relationship or done some deals with them.

Speaker3: [00:05:46] Before.

Speaker2: [00:05:46] Yeah, you might not worry about that because you know that they’re going to come through. But somebody you’ve never done anything with before. Get some commitment, you know? So you didn’t know that by the time you come asking for the balance that if they don’t deploy it, they’re going to do the attempt to send to 20%. Yeah. And in most cases try to if you’re trying to raise 1 million target to raise 1.5 or 1.8 million. So we have two or three investors drop out, as at least you say, able to cover the amount you’re trying to raise. Yeah, which was the problem we ran into. You know, we had two investors just for a large amount of money, which I don’t want to start talking about right now. And we had a huge hole to fill within a very short period of time. But now we’re able to close on the 17th of March.

Speaker1: [00:06:39] And you’re able to do it a bit unpredictably, but you did it.

Speaker3: [00:06:42] So, yeah, it seemed.

Speaker2: [00:06:44] Unachievable what we did.

Speaker1: [00:06:46] Congratulations. Thank you. Okay, so now now that this deal is done, what’s next? After you got the first one done, what’s next for you here?

Speaker2: [00:06:57] I think the immediate next step for us is repositioning the property. We are now rushing to the next big deal. First, we want to get the property to what we promised our investors first.

Speaker1: [00:07:11] Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:07:11] So that might take two months, 2 to 3 months to get that point. But at the same time, we have deals being thrown at us, especially because of the news that we just closed this one. So we have deals being tried out. So okay, we have this here, but we are taking our time. We are not rushing to get into any new deal right now. Maybe about three months, four months. We are actively in the market at that point. Right now we’re just focusing on repositioning this asset, you know, not just for the forced acquisition, but we’re looking at the natural position because of the market where this investment is and that’s in Edmonton.

Speaker1: [00:07:49] Got it. Yeah. And that has it which we we see this asset all over some of the press releases. So you know, when it came to down it, back when it came to, you know, you making this step, what was it that made you overcome any hesitation to join raises outcome.

Speaker3: [00:08:09] I once I observe once I, I mean I got to know about you guys first. I mean.

Speaker2: [00:08:19] I would the way I spoke about you, I’m not saying this for the camera but said you just have to talk to this guy. You have to talk to this asset.

Speaker3: [00:08:28] We didn’t know you’ve not spoken to him. You need to talk to this guy. This guy’s good. So I thought, okay, that was fine. So. And the rapport.

Speaker2: [00:08:36] The conversation, we had one on one. And I like the rapport, I love the chemistry. I think I need to get in better with these guys. I need to know what you’re doing. I want to be part of what you guys are doing. And I’ve not regretted signing up.

Speaker1: [00:08:48] Got it. And for those, you know, in many different, you know, maybe some people have already closed their deals. Maybe they have. It’s for somebody who sees raises that come and they may have some hesitation. What would you say to them if they were to take that next step?

Speaker3: [00:09:02] Was was keeping was the hesitation about this just jumping the you have to think I had something and as somebody said, the return on awesome. You know you just in the market bind you and binding you and why not get because resource companies don’t.

Speaker2: [00:09:21] Just about people that are just starting out you’ve got veterans that are part of the business dot com so they give the advice to tell you this what they’ve done and this how they’ve been successful at it. So there’s nothing you have.

Speaker3: [00:09:35] Nothing to lose but. You don’t have anything to lose. That’s what I’m saying. You have everything to gain by being part of this dot com. Because for me, I’ve seen it and I’ll testify and I’ll tell anybody if you want to get a.

Speaker2: [00:09:48] Deal, cause you’re.

Speaker3: [00:09:50] Looking and.

Speaker2: [00:09:52] Cheaply, you know, you want to get your deal closed cheaply. You can just go to Reddit dot com. There are so many things that the investment bankers will charge you that if you go to red dot com you might get it for free or aren’t talking good.

Speaker1: [00:10:09] Got it. And listen, you know, again, congratulations and all that you were able to accomplish. I saw that it wasn’t something that was a walk in the park. It wasn’t easy. And but but listen, you did it. Congratulations. And hey, if if anyone wants to reach out to you for investor inquiries or something similar. Where should they go?

Speaker3: [00:10:29] I’m very active on LinkedIn.

Speaker2: [00:10:32] You can go to our website. It should be active by next week. We have to take it down for certain reasons, but we’re active in next week. But I’m very active on LinkedIn. You can just check out Ascend Capital on LinkedIn or check out my own profile, LinkedIn as well. I do allow let me just type it out. You find it. I guess you can just Google my name. Perfect it just go my name. I’m sure I’m going to focus on my other.

Speaker1: [00:10:58] Yeah. And even, you know you’ve done it well. Congratulations again. Thank you. And we look forward. Hey, no worries. And we look forward to seeing you get some more done and yes, absolutely. Give these returns here.

Speaker2: [00:11:07] Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much, Nathan.

How Real Estate Investor Closes first 44 Unit Multifamily Syndication with the Raises.com Platform

Transcript

Speaker1: [00:00:04] Well, you did it. You did it. So now. Now you’re. Now you’re one of the members that actually you’re like, now you can talk to other people that come in and train them and say, Oh, this is how you do it. You know, this is how it’s done. This is how you do this.

Speaker2: [00:00:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, thank you for thank you guys. I mean, you guys were very instrumental and the feedback and all that, it really helped.

Speaker1: [00:00:37] Hi, Ade.

Speaker2: [00:00:38] Hi. I couldn’t hear anything. I thought probably talking and I can’t hear anything.

Speaker1: [00:00:44] No, all is. Well, we just had Kenneth is just because we just posted the meeting a bit late, but no, we just had Kenneth in yourself. So we got a few new, new members, but they’re not always on the call, so it’s a bit empty.

Speaker2: [00:00:59] Oh, I see. Well, got a bit of good news.

Speaker1: [00:01:06] There we go. Let’s hear it.

Speaker2: [00:01:07] Please. We need to close. No need. You have the money to close the transaction? Yeah. Yeah. It was a horrible experience dealing with some people. Yeah. I don’t know what is internal problem or just pure bad faith on their part. You know, dealing with how to deal with a lender that’s on the day of funding, changing all the terms. So, you know, all the times that, you know, we have to fight them saying, no way, you know, about this deal for the past six weeks and you made some approvals you can come and they are you expected to fund to start changing the terms and all that. Oh, they made us they made us sweat it acting for all sort of stuff that we’re not even the KPIs in the commitment letter that we signed but enough we managed to close on officially on Thursday, unofficially on Thursday, on Friday officially closed and congrats.

Speaker1: [00:02:27] So you closed on last Friday.

Speaker2: [00:02:29] Yeah, just last Friday. Just four days ago. Three days ago. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:02:37] Congrats, man. You drinking champagne or what?

Speaker2: [00:02:41] Champagne at this point, I’m just trying to recover for from the sleepless nights. Wow. The champagne yet. But I need to close for money to close.

Speaker1: [00:02:58] Congratulations.

Speaker2: [00:03:00] Thanks. So the real work starts now.

Speaker1: [00:03:06] Yeah. Yeah, because. Well, yeah. Now, you know, we have to avoid the lawsuits and give the people what they want. Right.

Speaker2: [00:03:15] Well, to sign up for. Yes. Time to execute.

Speaker1: [00:03:21] Well. And so this one was 40. So this one was 44 to 44.

Speaker2: [00:03:25] Yeah. That’s 44 units. It was. Yeah, we managed to close down.

Speaker1: [00:03:36] Well, hey. Just one thing. One thing. A lot of people, a lot of us, business people, we’re always like. We always work really, really hard. And then we try to get to the goal. So now that you hit the goal, even for just. I know you can’t we can’t celebrate too, too much.

Speaker2: [00:03:50] But, you know.

Speaker1: [00:03:51] Yeah, I just hope you just you just take time, because, like, I’ve been seeing you working on this for a while. I just hope you take time to. You know, just to enjoy the moment for a bit.

Speaker2: [00:04:03] Yeah. That’s what I keep saying. Yeah, I will. But I’m off to I’m off to get in there. Innovation starts next week. Okay. So this week is just planning and next week we get to it. Of course, we have a renovation work plan in place already, but just been on ground and getting things moving from this to these.

Speaker1: [00:04:27] And then so then this one is your first indication as of now, right? Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:04:31] Yeah, it is. In North America. It is.

Speaker1: [00:04:34] Congratulations again.

Speaker2: [00:04:38] Thank you.

Speaker1: [00:04:40] So when it comes so then when it comes to actually the value add, so then what do you need any help with all those numbers, like taking a look at all that or what?

Speaker2: [00:04:55] I don’t know. Maybe yes or maybe no. I don’t know. I could always share with you guys and see if there’s any feedback.

Speaker1: [00:05:03] Got it. And what do you say you’re based out of you’re based out of Vancouver, right?

Speaker2: [00:05:08] Yeah. And the deal is in Edmonton, so just about an hour, 50 minute flight. Okay.

Speaker1: [00:05:20] Maybe. Maybe we can meet there with some time. What do you think?

Speaker2: [00:05:23] Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I’ll find out when.

Speaker1: [00:05:27] I don’t even know what I should like. I don’t know what I should come to because I want to make it like a round trip. Because there are a bunch of people that I want to meet in the States and then go up. I don’t know whether it should be Edmonton or Vancouver, but matters in Vancouver, so maybe it makes sense to go to Vancouver.

Speaker2: [00:05:43] Yeah. To meet your team. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely not to come to Vancouver.

Speaker1: [00:05:50] Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:05:52] I do. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:05:56] Yeah. I’ll plan. I’ll plan a time like I have to travel after travel is me anyway. So I’ll make a time in May, but then I’ll come back to you. But yeah, the deal is closed. Let’s just celebrate for 2 seconds and nothing crazy. Just, you know, just to see.

Speaker2: [00:06:13] Me off.

Speaker1: [00:06:14] And get back on it. Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:06:15] Because to gain traction with this close target for me to end this year is. Actually it’s 200 units. So we have about 1.56 to go. So that is a target. Okay.

Speaker1: [00:06:38] So 100 and so. So, can you expand that again? Say that again. I’ll make sure I get it.

Speaker2: [00:06:42] So I’m saying the target before the end of this quote by the end of this year is to own the unit.

Speaker1: [00:06:46] Okay.

Speaker2: [00:06:49] So we have one and then 56 units to go. So in several months. So. Got it. That goes. There has to be a commitment and there has to be a commitment 10 to 20% if you are really interested. So you know that when there’s the call to pay up or you lose your money because I have people, that’s okay. So commitment, I’m going to do 500, I’m going to do 200, blah, blah, blah. When it was time to copy that call. Oh, none which some of them were not picking up calls, some of them made commitments for 500 or 400 only did 50%. So at some point I thought I already raised millions and that million went from 1000000 to 300000 because I could only get 300. So that’s how I had so many issues. The deal is we close the model, so that was kind of called the cut. People were not paying up, but if they had something at stake to lose, which is a normal thing. If you look at it in private equity, if you make if you make a commitment to something that you’re going to you’re going to deploy capital, you have to make 5% or 10%. And when it’s time for capital call, if you don’t do it within the set time, you probably you’re going to lose that money. Does that’s defeat private equity outside what I’ve seen that we’ve done that before. So that is not, it’s not something new. Yeah. Well because you’re trying to manage relationships, right? You’re trying not to put people under a lot of pressure and telling them they’re going to lose their money they don’t commit. It’s entirely up to see. Okay, is this guy really interested? Somebody that’s really interested.

Speaker2: [00:08:40] And I’m I if I’m put in for instance and put in under a new deal does think it. I’m going to make a commitment. I’m not going to lose my ten or 20 kids. So they’re going to make that commitment. And what I’m saying, the big boys I’m talking to, institutional investors, for instance, they make commitment, okay? They want to invest. They make a commitment to a deal, let’s say 500 million. And they put in, let’s say 50 million, a hundred million right at the point of Colbyco, which is why when you make that commitment to a deal or to a private equity, that difference, that you’re not giving that to general partner at that point in time, that you only give 10% or 20%, you invest it in some kind of illiquid assets that when it’s time for capital call, you can get that money and just deploy. Right. You’re not putting in something hard and something that’s going to take you about 30 minutes or something that might take you about six months, four months for you to to liquidate or to get money back. So you put it in some kind of liquid asset. Was this 30 days for you to get the money back? So you made a commitment of, let’s say, a hundred million. Then you put in 10 million. Right. That balance, you put in some kind of liquid asset that you know that when it’s time for capital, because at this point where you’re depositing or deploying that 10%, which is but 10 million, you know, there’s going to be a cop that called in two months. Only if there’s no if there’s no deal in two months, then you get your money back. Less expenses.

Speaker1: [00:10:33] So. So you’re saying so basically. A few things. So one is that the capital call thing happens in every type of equity. Like many equity games, like big deal, small deals, whatever.

Speaker2: [00:10:43] Yeah. In the private equity side set up, that is the setting in a proper private equity. That is the setting. You have to put a commitment down that, okay, you’re committed to this deal. But because our relationship management is not it’s not about it’s not in the law that you have to do it. But if you truly committed to the deal and you want to if you want to establish or sorry, what is your position in that deal? Yeah. You make a commitment. Okay. I’m I’m in this deal. So under a million, I put it 10 million in first. So when it’s time for capital call, you get to $90. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:11:28] Because and then you’re also saying so then you’re also saying to that the people have to be it has to be slightly liquid. So it has to be like, for example, if they pull out of the capital call, they still feel a little bit of pain because they still have to wait a while for for them to get that money right, is what you’re saying?

Speaker2: [00:11:46] Yeah. Okay. For instance, just under a million commitment to a deal. Yeah. Now you make it. You make sort commitments of 10 million or some level of commitment of 10 million. You know, there’s going to be a couple that call in two months for the balance. So at this point in time, you have to deploy. If you don’t have the if you don’t have the 90 right now, you must make sure that you have the 90. In two months when I’m going to make the cut. And it’s going to be about probably going to have like ten days or 15 days for you to deploy. If you don’t, because I need to close at that point, if you don’t deploy at that point in time, the likelihood of you losing the ten to the 10%, 10 million, 8% is pretty high. You can ask this from any, but it has done private equity at a big level. This guy’s done because everything is at risk. That 10 million, if you don’t deploy your 90 million, they have to quickly go to the market last minute and see who’s going to take up that 90 million. So that cost itself, that’s the cost that 10 million is going to cover for your other four and in most cases, at 10 million.

Speaker2: [00:13:05] Part of that terminal’s already been maybe deposits for that deal. Like in real estate, for instance, you have to make a commitment. Right, deposits for the deal that you’re trying to close. Yeah. Yeah. So that part of that money is probably going to go towards that. So if you don’t bring in your own balance, then there’s a huge pressure on the sponsor or the GP to look so that you don’t lose the money, the deposit already. So you have to go to the market at the last minute and you’re trying to raise money at the last minute is going to cause you to turn. It’s just going to cost you so much money. So much money. I’ve seen that happen on this deal. It cost me so much because I had to get get money at the last minute. So to do that, the private equity guys put in the documentations. If you don’t do it at this point, you’re going to lose your money. And you read the agreement. You sign up. Once you sign that, yes. You acknowledge that if you don’t. Put in there minimum balance. You’re going to lose your money. Pillows lies on your side. Yeah. You know what, Lloyd? You need the money.

Speaker1: [00:14:21] You know what’s funny? What’s really funny is like. Because, like, I’m in a group of so I’m in a group of like, there are a bunch of these these millionaire small business owners that they do like online. They do it. They have different online businesses. And what’s funny is like, for example, they’ll have a service that costs like 10,000 bucks or whatever and they would ask if the person is serious, but then the money is not coming yet. They would say, Oh, you put down $500 and come back. Like a down payment almost. But they won’t give back the down payments. It reminds me of this. It’s the same principle because they won’t give it up.

Speaker2: [00:14:56] It’s non-refundable.

Speaker1: [00:14:58] Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:15:00] You don’t follow through on your commitment to the deal that you’re going to buy their business. Wasted their time for about two or three months. And you don’t close the transaction, you lose the money.

Speaker1: [00:15:09] Yeah, and it reminds me of this because it reminds me of have you ever heard of that book influenced by Cialdini? I don’t know if you heard of that book.

Speaker2: [00:15:20] No, I don’t think so.

Speaker1: [00:15:22] Yeah, like, it’s. It talks about an influence. Cialdini.

Speaker2: [00:15:31] Cialdini sounds familiar

Speaker1: [00:15:33] Yeah, because. Yeah, because you’re using. You’re using the commitments and consistencies. So this is commitment and consistency that you’re using, right? Because you’re trying to say that if somebody made a basically if somebody makes a small choice, if somebody makes like a small commitment, then the people would continue to behave consistent with that small commitment. So I give you just say, oh, just let me just put $1 in. Then they say, okay, let me put ten. Like it’s easier to ask for bigger favors if the person starts with a small favor.

Speaker2: [00:16:03] Absolutely. And you know that people don’t want everyone. It’s just $1. People don’t want to lose it, right? Yeah. They would do whatever it is that is required of them to make sure that they meet up so they don’t lose that as small as it is, they don’t want to lose it. So they set it in a very bad position that, okay, yeah, there’s nothing I can do, I’ll just let go. So on the basis of that and the GP understands the situation and does not anybody can do it, if you have a discussion with the GP and see, okay, next, any expenses that the GP has incurred, you can give them some. So instead of 10 million back, probably get 5 million back on the relationship. But ordinarily they are not supposed to get anything back because you made a commitment. You see, you sign that if you don’t deploy the minimum balance, which is 90%, which equates to 90 million, you are going to lose your soft commitment to this deal. And when it says soft commitment really is not just the word of mouth. Yeah, it has to be with cash. That you actually really committed to this deal. But we have we have tried to massage that because everybody is trying to build relationship and try to tell soft commitment by word of mouth or the strong commitment that is going to. It really should be with cash.

Speaker1: [00:17:29] Yeah. Because not just talk. Because talk, talk cash is the only thing that’s cash is the only thing that shows what people are really going to do. It’s behavior. But one more question I have for this is would you so going forward for like your next syndications.

Speaker2: [00:17:45] Would you.

Speaker1: [00:17:46] Put in it looks like it makes sense to have a to get more people that are commitment committed than even the amount you’re raising. No, because.

Speaker2: [00:17:55] Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s a big lesson, that part of what I mean, Kenneth and Abdul would tell you, yeah, they’ve done all that. So that’s yeah, definitely I’m going to probably raise one point. I mean 11.5 X or two X or what I need. That’s what I’m going to get out. So it’s I’d rather have people have it do oversubscribed than to be on the subscribe because people just didn’t follow through on their commitments. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:18:26] Because you know, and then maybe maybe to make some provisions for like if you’re because like people always want something that is hot, right? So it’s like if the thing is more in demand, if it’s oversubscribed and then you created value out of nothing.

Speaker2: [00:18:40] Give a lot of nothing. So you can quickly go to the market for the next deal. And so sorry guys couldn’t get on this one, but this you have an alternative. This is a new deal that you can, you know, so instead of you’re trying to make a commitment of 200 or 500 people, you only we only able to get up to 300 K. So don’t worry, the next deal is just erotic, blah, blah, and you can still make them invest in your next deal. Yeah, sure. Okay. Put them as a priority when it comes to the next deal. And they like your products, they like you first. I think they did not like a product. Yeah. You first before your product.

Speaker1: [00:19:26] Yeah. Because you know and speaking of the investors, the last thing I wanted to say is like how about how about I don’t know if this will help, but how about a press release just saying, hey, listen, you know, at a you know, so-and-so has done so-and-so and he’s working on this because I mean, the thing has closed and the thing is like.

Speaker2: [00:19:45] Yes, we are going to do that. I just well, I think yeah, probably in April. I just want to get it to the point where I started, you know, I just don’t want to close the transaction and okay, that’s the next thing I want to start reading before making so much noise about it. Yeah, definitely going to do that because it’s absolutely the profile. So I really appreciate any press release from you guys.

Speaker1: [00:20:15] In the noise. No worries. Yeah, we’ll take care of that. We’ll take care of those things. We’ll try to get on. We’ll try to get an editor to do it. We can’t promise like an editor would do it, but it may see access wire on it, but it would just get it to get it to Business Insider or something like that. Or Bloomberg.

Speaker2: [00:20:31] Or. Yeah. It’s a big do.

Speaker1: [00:20:42] Well, you did it. You did it. So now now you’re now you’re one of the members that actually you’re like, now you can talk to other people that come in and train them and say, Oh, this is how you do it. You know, this is how it’s done. This is how you do this.

Speaker2: [00:20:55] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, thank you for thank you guys. I mean, you guys were very instrumental, the feedback and all that. It really helped.

Speaker1: [00:21:09] No worries. Listen, we did we did what we could. But the next one, we were always looking for ways to do more. Though I want to be able to do more. I know. I think I think I think there may be something with the ad thing. I think that there’s something there because.

Speaker2: [00:21:24] You know.

Speaker1: [00:21:26] I don’t think it’s been used enough by a lot of people. So but let’s keep on trying to improve. I want to I want to just find a way to get more. So if we can get more context to you.

Speaker2: [00:21:38] Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:21:39] We just want to find more ways to do it. So use us as much as you want. You know, you have the support, but I’ll be going back and forth on that.

Speaker2: [00:21:46] Email, so. Okay. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:21:52] But. Yeah, don’t work too hard. Yeah. Just relax a bit and then just enjoy the moment. Life can be short sometimes, so just enjoy the moment. Make your investors happy and make them happy. We work on continuing to make you happy. And then? And then. That’s all we have to do, right?

Speaker2: [00:22:06] Yeah. Thank you.

Speaker1: [00:22:09] No worries, but. Yeah, next step. Next steps. Let’s. So in April, we’ll whatever you want us to say, we’ll try to get you on whatever Forbes anything. We’ll try to get you out there, and then we’ll have a draft by like a week. We’ll work on that. And then yeah, in May, I’ll see if I can personally come over. I will see if I can do that. I think there’s a 99% chance I can, but I’ll just confirm it.

Speaker2: [00:22:32] Okay? Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.

Speaker1: [00:22:37] Very cool. All right, sir. Talk soon. Let us know if you need anything as well. Don’t be a stranger, right?

Speaker2: [00:22:42] Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker1: [00:22:44] Awesome. All right. Talk soon Ade, cheers,

Speaker2: [00:22:48] All right. Bye.

Multifamily Syndicator Launches $100m Reg D Fund on the Raises.com Platform

Transcript

(Being Edited)

Speaker1: [00:00:00] Natu Myers here from Raises.com, and today I’m with Abdiel Lewis from Arch Capital, and we’re going to take a quick, deep dive into his background and some of the types of transactions and the scope of what he’s working on. And then we’re going to learn about some of the ins and outs of the capital raising space from his perspective and things that he’s learned and things that he’s accumulated along the way. So, so, yeah, we’re up. We just had an interest in talking about talking about some people that you actually met who have connections with. But before we get started, can you just tell the folks here about your background and some of the things that you’ve worked on in and where you’re coming from?

Speaker2: [00:00:51] Yeah, absolutely. So a couple couple of couple of things that I’ve been involved with involve anything from start up with on the technology side as well as real estate. But over the last 10 years, I find myself diving into Wilson more and more and then involved in syndication, both as lead partner as well as general partner. What if your investors to date have done about seven deals, three as a partner and then the remaining fours on both sides, as well as a. General partners, including from those seven deals with, exited three of them. Record breaking. I mean, we we always like to be very conservative when we project returns, but these were projected around 16 to 18 percent and we exited all three deals between nineteen and twenty one point two percent IRR. So I think our investors are very pleased indeed. They’d like to come back and invest with us overall. So the reason I mentioned syndication as well is as we do more syndication, it’s always come down to equity and capital. Every deal that we do, we need to. We need to raise equity and and take those down with my partners. And it comes to us about a year and a half ago, two years ago, how do we create a fund and then be able to leverage the fund to diversify our portfolio, but also to provide better ally on equity and better term for our investors? And some of the benefits with having a fund is allow us to invest in multiple projects throughout the southeast south southwest of the U.S. and be able to partner with operators, experienced operators we have worked with personally over the last seven to 10 years.

Speaker1: [00:03:13] That’s fantastic, and I mean, it’s pretty it’s pretty vibrant and is obviously, I mean, you’re obviously getting results for the investors. You’re talking about 19 percent. So I guess along the way along your journey here, it’s what is the number one? Because what would I say, what is the number one? In terms of your background, the number one piece of advice that you would have for somebody who is looking to number one, find investors and to get results for them to the level that you’ve been able to achieve here.

Speaker2: [00:03:45] Well, that’s a very good question, so I don’t know if there is a one thing because, you know, it’s it’s like learning to ride a bike, right? Because you’re because you’re by the bike. Does it mean that you know how to ride the bike the very first day, right? So, so it’s a process. I think the first thing I would say is understand the sector that you’re getting into. If you’re getting into real estate and you want to do syndication or you want to raise capital, then start by learning and understanding what investors are looking for when they are looking to invest in a particular project, whether that’s construction or whether that’s development or mixed use, or whether that’s acquisition of multifamily for repositioning or light value add. So these are these are the things I would look at and then understanding the terms, you know, anything from average return. What does that mean if we were to return? What does that mean? Cumulative return? What does that also mean? And and then also look at the construct of the general partners. A lot of those deals, often the numbers do not lie. But if the trust or the relationship between the general partners and the legal partners is is not trusted or is not easy to work with and have a track record and credibility, then you know, yes, you may be able to make money. But ultimately you would not have a great experience. But I think for me, I look at. The team behind the project, of course, I look at the numbers I have to analyze the numbers, I have to look at the exit strategy, the business plan. But at the end of the day, the business plan does not execute, execute itself. It’s the people behind it. So that’s also a big part of my analysis and how we move when we look at projects.

Speaker1: [00:05:59] Got it makes sense, especially when you’re talking about value add, especially. So going from there and talking about now, so what are some current either projects or initiatives that you’re working on raising capital for right now?

Speaker2: [00:06:15] So right now, over the last six months, we’ve been heads down focusing on. Two funds, so we launch a high income growth fund last month that’s one hundred million dollar fund targeted yield is 18 percent. The asset type we’re targeting is commercial mixed use multifamily real estate and then that that that fund, particularly the $100 million fund focused really on. High growth, like I mentioned, and also tax advantaged growth where we we we are raising capital and then we are partnering with Experience Sponsor. We have invested with in the past six to eight 10 years and take an equity position, as well as a GP position or co-investment, basically for a shorter way of saying that. So we’ll invest alongside of them. I will be part of the management team and then. The second piece is that with COVID, what happened in the U.S. is that around the world, most smaller boutique or smaller asset managers or operators did not have enough reserve or did not have any sensitivity analysis into the underwriting. Should something like COVID happen or unexpected like this happen and be able to weather the economic downturn and the economic occupancy? I didn’t say the economy occupancy is actually different than physical occupancy. So and I’ll explain with economic occupancy is how how much you’re collecting and rent or cap or return based on who is actually paying for the asset or the lease. Physical occupancy deal with OK, well, I may be 90 percent or 98 99 percent occupied, but 10 percent of those tenants or lease lessees are not actually able to meet the obligations.

Speaker2: [00:08:37] So therefore you have a discrepancy. So doing so, we saw an opportunity. Therefore, we create a second fund which coming online January one twenty twenty two, and that’s an impact fund. And that’s that’s impactful. Fund focus on passive income and measurable tax saving target yield is 10 percent, and that’s what percent of the workforce housing, multifamily, single family rental real estate. And the idea is a lot of those. Uh, operators or inexperienced operators there alone are in this business, and the bank will be calling those loan and they are going to be forced to sell or liquidate to exit. And this is what we call it with equity that we we are raising, we’ll be able to go in and acquire those assets. The steep discount and then put new management in place, inject some capital to reposition and continue where they left off and exit. So what that does is now we’re talking about a triple factor, whereas only we’re buying at a low discount. And also now we’re about to inject capital to turn around the asset, and we’re going to be able to exit at a higher equity multiple. We’re talking to X multiple and up. So that seemed to be another area of opportunity that we see coming up in twenty twenty two. And we wanted to take advantage of that and allow both retail and institutional, both retail and accredited investors to participate in our fund to be able to. And this but also to take an interest into this sector or project that we’re involved in.

Speaker1: [00:10:49] No, fantastic. Yeah, because the first one seems to be more about just leveraging high growth and taking advantage of the tax opportunities, and then the second one is more the management there and then looking for arbitrage there, right?

Speaker2: [00:11:03] Correct.

Speaker1: [00:11:05] Well, awesome, awesome. Yeah, and just off line as well, we’re just talking about different conferences and opportunities that you were a part of. And I mean, you are a Raises.com Member. and so how is the Raises.com membership been to you and your team?

Speaker2: [00:11:22] Very good. Very good. I remember the very first time I saw your note and then I reached out and we talked a few times and trying to do some due diligence on Raises.com. I think back then you guys had a different name and you rebranded along the way. But overall, I think that, for my co-founder, my partner here at Arch Capital and myself, I think the Raises.com has become invaluable to what we’re doing, and I’m going to explain that. You know, if we need advice, we can reach out to you or to your team. We on several instances we’ve had your team underwrite some of our deals, which is very unique and have great feedback on a project we’re working on last minute. And then on other instances, including now we’ve been able to connect with many mastermind members and have several warm introductions. And when we say warm introductions, these are direct decision makers who can actually tell us, yes, we can help, and no, we cannot help, but we can provide a referral. Those referral actually how to give us even greater ideas and also provide other structures and a way of being more creative in our way in our raise for for our funds that we did not think about prior. So overall, I think Raises.com Is truly a strategic partner, and we’re trying to take advantage of that every time we have a need or when we need to discuss different ways of structuring deals and raising capital and leveraging the back end solution you guys have as well to pull new investor profiles.

Speaker1: [00:13:33] And it’s good, and when it comes to I’ll use the term you use taken advantage because there are a lot of people that are coming to raise the bomb. Some are extramural and they’re more advanced. Some are just fresh and they’re they’ve syndicated deals. And so seen all the things that you’ve seen and experienced up to now not just raises, but just in general. What how would you advise somebody to take advantage over both the knowledge that you’ve learned and also the resources that are available in the market to actually set up their fund and raise for their fund, especially when it comes to multifamily real estate?

Speaker2: [00:14:09] Yeah, and they’ve got a question. So. So I think in the process when you join, there is a step you follow get the basics where the documents are, who to reach out to if you have questions. And then my theory is participation into those weekly calls or biweekly calls Monday and Wednesday and be able to discuss and exchange ideas. And you know, it’s almost like the hot seat. So you provide your your plan and you get grilled live. But but everybody get to see it and then see areas that you can improve, but also understand. The other set of conversation that should happen, that the partners in your organization with partners on your team should be asking and often, you know, people from raising resources that come will all chime in or the mastermind will chime in. There is a great wealth and bristled knowledge and folks available to help. So I think that would be the first thing, you know, get the basics out, understand where things are, who to reach out. And then once you get past that, then it’s a matter of getting introduced to other folks. If someone is good with, you know, debt instrument and someone else is good with equity. Equity raise or or capital raise or mayors or legal aspect of the deal, then, you know, reach out and get quickly introduced to someone versus is trying to figure, figure it out yourself and spending days in agony.

Speaker2: [00:15:59] I think one phone call, one email, you’ll get an answer. So so you know, time is very time is very fleeting, but also time is essential. So we try to manage our time the best we can and any type of investment. We acquire partners and even through this mastermind. You know what? You lack experience. You’ll find someone who has the upside or someone who has the experience, then just partner with them and and take that deals start, start where you feel comfortable. But also, I would say, start big enough where institutional institutional capital start to notice you, because that’s very important. And once you start having this conversation and building relationship with your capital, you’re able to speak the language and understanding there the mandate, then you start taking like them, then you start looking at things differently, then you start getting calls. Hey, do you have deals? We work on these deals. Let’s put our partner on on on either raising the debt or raising the equity or maybe coming on board as an asset manager. So all of that is things that you know, that you learn over time and you get gain experience as you go. But I think if you want to do shortcut is having this one on one conversation outside of those biweekly calls with members of the mastermind and also be active, you know, ask questions. No question is stupid. Just ask questions and reach out.

Speaker1: [00:17:39] Yeah, no good points, good points, especially when it comes to asking questions, because I mean, the thing is like nobody knows everything and part of the reason why consultants bring people in who don’t know everything is because if they knew everything, then they will be able to raise billions. So, you know, that’s the point of even asking questions. So that’s good advice to be taken from the community. So now we know that we know a bit about your career deals that you’ve done, deals you’re working on now. And so what’s what’s next? So the next, let’s say, in the next six, 12, twenty four months, what are you looking to achieve and how does the future look like for you now?

Speaker2: [00:18:24] Well, that’s a very good question. So so we. We’re excited about what’s what’s the next 12 months look like? So right now, we’re at 10 percent committed on on our High Income Growth Fund with the $100 million fund that we’re raising capital for it. So by Q1 of next year, we were anticipating to hit one third of the raise for that first fund. But the impact fund, what transpired is that when we launched that when we saw floods, the Impact Investing Fund and we were at a family office club event in Dallas, we were we were. I think surprise is not the right word, but I think the interest we receive was equally as it was equally the same as the high income growth interest in that fund. And so we so far have already been engaged, even with some public official in Dallas for the Impact Fund. But we will have we partner with some sort of public private partnership where we’ll be assisting in providing equity. And then we’re also looking at a model where where the fund can actually leverage existing asset that could be either leased or or or change hands over to the fund and then be part of the impact investment program that we’re looking to do as a model.

Speaker2: [00:20:05] So these are these are these are new things that we were seeing and we’re excited about. And then we also see that because we design and the structure we have for the impact fund is somewhat different than the high income growth because the higher income growth is directly from equity investors only. But the applause for the Impact Fund allows both accredited and the equity investors, meaning that retail individuals can invest, can, can invest into the fund very easily. And now they have a piece of of the a part of something bigger than themselves, which is impacting different areas, but also at the same time do well while doing good. And I think that’s that’s what we’re excited about that and see where that goes in 2020 to essentially. Well, the MSA, the MSA, when I say when I say MSA term that we use in real estate, the the the MSA specific areas in submarkets, I think is going to benefit greatly from that, and we anticipate that one to probably take off at a faster, a faster pace than the high income growth in term of what we’re doing.

Speaker1: [00:21:44] Hmm. Awesome. That seems yeah, because that seems to be more of the. That seems to be more of the long term plan because when you when you align, when you get people doing well and doing good and you know, I don’t want to divulge into the details, but. You know, because the reggae versus the rugby, there are different things and it’s more like a mini IPO. There are different opportunities there as well, right?

Speaker2: [00:22:09] Yeah. Correct. Go ahead. So, so yeah, you know. You know, yeah, like you said, we don’t want to get too much into the technicality, but otherwise we spend the entire night in talking about. Yeah, which is fine. And I enjoy this kind of conversation. But but really, it is really like a mini IPO giving, giving folks and investors a different way of of impact impacting their their their neighborhood and so on. And it provide the same return, the same tax, even more tax advantaged. If you look at where and where we are investing and what we’re doing. But essentially, you know, if you’re doing well, do good, but at the same time, make some money.

Speaker1: [00:22:58] Yeah, why not? Why not? And like a lot of deals like this do, is it shareholders almost become? Like the Queen, I don’t want to see customers, but everything seems to be aligned in terms of mission, especially when it comes to these mini IPO type setup. Correct? Yeah. And so we’re could. So I mean, if somebody wants to inquire about these opportunities or they wanted to learn more about, I guess, the types of transactions that you’re working on, how can somebody get in touch with you?

Speaker2: [00:23:30] Absolutely. So they can. Anyone can reach us and call anytime to talk to us, or we’re very open and transparent about what we do, and we’ll be happy to sit down and tell you about what our fund mandates are. But more importantly, you as the investor or you as a potential partner, we want to understand what it for you. What’s your goal? What’s your vision and what do you want to come out of? Maybe a potential investment with us, so if anyone wanted to reach out to us, they can simply go to arch capital that ventures and go to contact, and then you’ll find our my email Eloise at Archer Capital that ventures or my partner’s information is also on there. Our team was also in there, but once you go to the website, it goes over what we do. It goes over our investment opportunities as well as. An ethic you that goes in details about why invest with us and our strategy, from our mission to our experience to unique markets we’re focusing on and as well as our process of vetting projects in order to. Preserve investments, capital and so on. So I think the website is the most effective way of reaching out to us and connect with this.

Speaker1: [00:25:11] Perfect. Perfect. And with that, Abdul, I really enjoyed the conversation. Yeah, and every time we chat, there is a lot of nuggets that I get from the conversation as well. And obviously, the other members really appreciates all the insight that you’re bringing into their deals as well. So it becomes like a a feedback loop that that really everyone, everyone is benefiting from everyone else. So again, I really appreciate it. And are there any last pieces of either advice or anything that you’d like to share to the community overall as we go?

Speaker2: [00:25:44] Yeah. Before I go. Definitely, I think, you know, appreciate your time. Thanks for bringing me on. And we would like feedback if you guys wanted to let us know what you think works on our website or what we’re working on. We are open to feedback like, like I said, 100 percent transparent, but also do not hesitate to reach out and a lot of folks reach out on the backend and online, and that’s fine. So I’m pretty much on all the medium available as far as this group communication. So. And if you don’t, if you don’t hear from me, I promise you guys that you’ll hear back from me within 24 hours. I always tell people that twenty four within 24 hours, you’ll hear from me. I’m either up in the air, but or are flying somewhere or about tune in somewhere, but definitely we’ll reach out and then start having a conversation and go from there.

Speaker1: [00:26:49] Awesome, awesome. So let’s do good and do well. So this is arts capital. This is fabulous. And we really enjoyed this one. Thank you so much.

Speaker2: [00:26:59] Likewise, thanks. Sure.