Accepting The Abundance Mindset

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Leslie Awasom is the Director of Operations and Co-founder of XSITE Capital Investment LLC Leslie bought his first investment property in 2017 and transitioned to multifamily investing in 2019 Leslie and the XSITE Capital team host a rapidly growing multifamily-focused meetup in Maryland They provide resources and add value to individuals interested in growing their wealth and changing their financial future Leslie is a trained Nurse Anesthetist and entrepreneur who lives in Hanover Maryland He is a husband father of two beautiful girls and a son and loves to spend his spare time reading and flying drones 00 00 – 05 15 Opening Segment Leslie Awasom is the director of operations and co-founder of Xsite capital investment LLC He manages the company operations market data analysis cash flow and budget Leslie started in real estate in 2017 after coming across one of Robert Kiyosaki s Second Chance For Your Money Your Life and Our Money They founded Xsite Capital Investment and it is currently sitting on 125 million assets under management 05 15 – 10 34 Accepting The Abundance Mindset Not losing when you provide value to others The company s journey wasn t always fast but it was perfect for where they are now The company is solely focused on acquiring multifamily properties and believes it is still a solid asset for long-term wealth growth They are conservative with their projections and keep their rent growth in some markets while dialing it back in others They also help others who want to start their own multifamily company 10 35 – 15 55 Underwriting Deals The company has been underwriting deals to deals that they close at 134 to 1 which is based on their last few deals There has been softening in the market with re-trading happening and brokers asking for offers to be submitted even if they are lower than what was asked in the past The key to success in this market is understanding the story behind the numbers and being able to trend them monthly One way that the asset management team can affect the numbers is by implementing water savings programs or having a qualified maintenance person on staff 15 56 – 18 28 Closing Segment Reach out to Leslie Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes Stay on top of your numbers You got to be able to trend everything monthly understand what those numbers mean and how you could influence those because that s where the key and that s where you have the power as asset management to make these assets perform very well – Leslie Awasom —————————————————————————- Connect with Leslie visit their website at xsitecapital com Connect with me Facebook LinkedIn Like subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts or whatever platform you listen on Thank you for tuning in Email me sam brickeninvestmentgroup com Want to read the full show notes of the episode Check it out below 00 00 00 Leslie Awasom some of the tools that we use project we kind of dial it down a little bit And we like to go into every deal having enough cushion Within the deal such that if something goes wrong we still fall within our numbers or even better 00 00 12 00 00 24 Sam Wilsons Leslie Awasom is the director of operations and co-founder of X site capital investment LLC He manages the company operations market and data analysis cash flow and budget Leslie welcome to the show 00 00 36 Leslie Awasom Hey thanks Sam Thank you so 00 00 37 Sam Wilsons much for having me Hey man The pleasure s mine there are three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show in 90 seconds or less 00 00 43 Sam Wilsons Can you tell me where did you start Where are you now And how did you get there 00 00 46 Leslie Awasom Yeah absolutely I started in real estate in 2017 after coming across one of Robert Kiyosaki book second chance at your money in your life and just got interested in real estate and building um more like a solid financial future for myself 00 01 00 Leslie Awasom Then along the way discovered multifamily investing came in contact with my two amazing partners We found that exec capital investment to focusing on multifamily investing in 2019 And we ve been growing ever since It s been an amazing journey for us our company and our investors 00 01 15 Leslie Awasom Currently sitting on 125 million of assets under management it s growing investor community and have great a great food that we ve been able to help grow the minds of over 1500 people so far And is that number it keeps growing every day 00 01 29 Sam Wilsons man That s fantastic When you say you ve been helpful or grateful to grow the minds of 1500 people what does that mean 00 01 37 Leslie Awasom So we have a monthly educational event We provide a lot of educational content We host every Tuesday evening on the writing class where we teach people interested in multi-family how to own the write these properties or how to evaluate these deals for themselves as investors 00 01 51 Leslie Awasom And we also have like monthly educational events where we bring in experts in the country from other aspects and finance and real estate to teach members of our community And we provide a lot of educational content via email to our list as well So it s just something that we really enjoy doing and that s something that s part of our call mission 00 02 08 Leslie Awasom Gotcha 00 02 08 Sam Wilsons man That s really cool So you guys have scaled to 125 million in assets under management and I guess that s five years that s pretty great Did you have any investing history in real estate before you went into multifamily 00 02 20 Leslie Awasom So we actually went into multifamily in 2019 Sam 00 02 23 Leslie Awasom So so we scaled that in about two in about three years Yeah Prior to that we individually had experience in single family investing Our CEO had some a long track record of investing in like startups and angel investing and real estate as well And I did some real estate and all the third partner had a financial service business 00 02 42 Leslie Awasom So that s the background we came into when we informed our 00 02 45 Sam Wilsons Gotcha That s really cool Tell me what are some things you know that you think about I guess in this now three year journey in multifamily Like what are some things that you feel like you ve done really well that other people should emulate 00 02 58 Leslie Awasom I think one thing we ve done really well is it s like really How was the right word really absorbing or like really accepting the abundance mindset right Really adopting that philosophy of an abundance mindset and really understanding that we do not lose anything by providing value to others 00 03 15 Leslie Awasom And actually it s actually like kind To some extent it s selfish mindset because the more you give to other people you actually get way more in return So that s something that has worked really well for us that we ve done really well We give a lot of our time and we give a lot more to members of our community 00 03 30 Leslie Awasom And because of that our community has grown tremendously We ve also done a really good job at finding the right assets that that keep our investors safe Being very conservative and our on the writing That s one thing that we are very proud of how conservative we are on the deal that we bring to market so that our investors are safe when they come to invest with us 00 03 50 Sam Wilsons What are some things when you say the more you give the more it comes back to you but like when you say that what are what would you say would be a standard some something that you d or ordinarily have thought man I m not gonna do that I m not gonna I m not gonna share that information or I m not gonna give that 00 04 04 Sam Wilsons What are some things that come to mind that you feel like Hey you know what We decided to be really liberal with this and share it as much as we can 00 04 10 Leslie Awasom It s just for example we have a lot of people that come to our platform that are looking to start their own our multifamily company as well 00 04 17 Leslie Awasom Ordinarily some other person will look at this as some kind of competition I m not gonna show them exactly how we do stuff We don t however whatever you want to learn we show it to you whatever resources we took to get over there we share with So is that another thing is like for example like the underwriting class we do we ve been doing that every Tuesday night going on to about a year now 00 04 35 Leslie Awasom It s something that take and it s not something that we charge anybody for And so even people that are coming on board that are learning and going and doing this on their own as well We really enjoyed doing it And but because we are given that much we ve met some really amazing partners that see that and value that 00 04 51 Leslie Awasom And that also share that kind of an energy And they ve also helped in our growth significantly 00 04 56 Sam Wilsons Got it That s really cool What are some things maybe that if you could do it over if you went back and said man let s rewind three years something that would make maybe speed things up that would maybe save some heartache 00 05 07 Sam Wilsons What s something that you feel like was not we ll called a mistake but something that that you said man I don t wanna repeat that 00 05 13 Leslie Awasom I probably should have brought in a third partner our CEO Dr Juda only much earlier than we did because bring in a what now our third partner Dr Juda only he came along in the process a little bit later 00 05 24 Leslie Awasom The company initially started with Tenny and I We probably would ve brought him in early because he just came in and just made like the final leg of the tripod and just brought in this amazing energy and and intelligence and integrity and tenacity that has really pushed us forward 00 05 41 Leslie Awasom So that s probably one thing I would ve done differently otherwise everything else I ll keep it the same My journey might not have been the fastest we had some failures and struggles along the way but it was it was perfect It was perfectly designed to put us to where we are today 00 05 55 Leslie Awasom That s great 00 05 55 00 05 55 Sam Wilsons Let me ask you this Lastly you said you brought your third partner on and it s all worked out Great What did you guys realize that you were missing Like what was it you re like gosh we just need a third person in this to really make this thing 00 06 08 Sam Wilsons Hum What were the components that were missing in in in that you guys realize you need to bring somebody on What was that 00 06 14 Leslie Awasom So we needed that somebody that had that vision that could keep us like aligned and focused in on who we are the company we re trying to build and the community that we re trying to build 00 06 24 Leslie Awasom Because initially well we just got really excited about the possibilities that multifamily presents for For ourselves and members of our community And we just went out running we didn t really have like a true identity as a company and focusing on what was really key to us So we needed that person that had that kind of that leadership aura if that s the best way I could describe it 00 06 45 Leslie Awasom And Dr Oney is was a perfect person And we are grateful that he came on board when he did 00 06 50 Sam Wilsons That s that s really cool And are you guys solely focused on acquiring multifamily Yes Right now what do you think about the multifamily market right now 00 07 00 Leslie Awasom It still has it s a little bit riskier than it was a year ago because of the changes in interest rates and everything that s happening in the economy 00 07 08 Leslie Awasom But we think I believe multifamily is still a very solid asset for long term wealth growth and world generat We just have to be a little bit more conservative than we were before with some of the projections that we make on some of the growth and be more selective in the markets that we re investing and the kind of assets that we re investing just to decrease the amount of our risk exposure that might come along 00 07 29 Leslie Awasom If we have some significant changes to the 00 07 31 Sam Wilsons economy when you say you re changing your growth projections is that saying Hey we re gonna dial back what we think we can sell this for Is that saying Hey we re gonna cut back on what our rent projections are gonna be I mean is that even going so far as saying Hey what if we have a rent decrease 00 07 47 Sam Wilsons I mean what do you mean when you say Tweaking your growth projections 00 07 51 Leslie Awasom Absolutely It s a little bit of both We project it for example if in the past we re projecting a 10 basis point increase in cap rates on on a yearly basis on exit we might project a little bit higher depending on the market 00 08 03 Leslie Awasom Some markets we are doing even like a 15 annual in increase 15 basis point increase in cap rates annually onto Our rent growth We are keeping our rent growth in some markets Maybe the first year we have some in the other years we keep it flat So it just depends on what the kind of data we see from our data sources in each of the markets that we go into 00 08 24 Leslie Awasom So whatever like some of the tools that we use project we kind of dial it down a little bit And so that it keeps we like to go into every deal having enough cushion Within the deal such that if something goes wrong we still fall within our numbers or even better 00 08 39 Sam Wilsons Got it Tell me about your role there inside of the company 00 08 42 Sam Wilsons What is it specifically that you handle 00 08 46 Leslie Awasom So I handle the operations of the company on the company side I make sure that we are meeting like we have the right systems in place to meet the goals that we set for ourself Every year we meet and we come up with quarterly goals and we come up with annual goals as well 00 08 59 Leslie Awasom So my role in there is to make sure that we are using the systems that we have created and other systems are working constantly evaluating constantly working with our employees to make sure that we can make our working process more efficient And I m also involved in the management of our assets 00 09 15 Leslie Awasom Manage the property managers making sure that they re keeping up with the KPIs that we set for each property make sure that the properties are performing according to what we on the road or better So once our acquisition team for example finds an asset and they think that it s a good one for us to review and they ve gone to the underwriting I take that underwriting and I have to review it compared to what our business plan what our typical business plans are and do some more 00 09 38 Leslie Awasom Checks and balances on it to make sure that it s a right asset for us to go into So I m more of the on the back side of things just making sure that the numbers are right and everything is functioning properly 00 09 49 Sam Wilsons What s the timeline This is just a totally kinda left field question Yes 00 09 53 Sam Wilsons What s the timeline from when you guys identify a potential asset on the acquisition side get it through underwriting get it to you get you to review the underwriting and then say Hey yeah this is a potential to make an offer What s how long does that take It usually 00 10 06 Leslie Awasom takes about three days Because that Christian team is very busy and that s probably one of the most developed part of our business 00 10 13 Leslie Awasom We have a very solid team so we have someone that goes in and finds the assets and stop to the brokers Then pass it over to underwriting They re underwrite it and they usually send it out to me within three days after getting more information from our property managers our debt brokers and our tax consultants 00 10 29 Leslie Awasom So within three days I get it and review everything and see if it makes sense to pursue any further or we pass What is your 00 10 36 Sam Wilsons current do you I mean if you don t know this that s fine but I bet you do What is your current number of deals you underwrite to deals that you close what s that 00 10 45 Leslie Awasom ratio right now is about 134 to one 00 10 49 Leslie Awasom See I knew you knew And that asked to to best on final not even close Yeah 00 10 55 Sam Wilsons What Geez So yeah Okay That s the best and final that s not even to 00 10 58 Leslie Awasom close Yeah Yeah That s based on what we ve done so far from the last from our last deal So it s been crazy We ve been reviewing a ton of deals but made a few best on finals but it s not nothing is has come through yet 00 11 10 Leslie Awasom Have you seen any 00 11 10 Sam Wilsons softening in the market or any I guess just any changes of note 00 11 16 Leslie Awasom Yeah Our feedback from our brokers is that there s a lot of re trading happening on some of the properties So in the past we would talk to brokers and our underwriting might be a few millions below what they were asking 00 11 27 Leslie Awasom And we will ask if it could submit an offer and they tell us no but this time around it doesn t matter how low the offer is they actually to submit because they want owners to see that things are changing with the interest rates This deal still have to cash flow Most owners still have expectations from when we were at a 2 interest rate in and a 6 interest rate climate 00 11 48 Leslie Awasom So it s gonna take some time to adjust but I do feel like it it is adjusting slowly 00 11 53 Sam Wilsons It is Yeah And that s there s lots of arguments eight different directions on why interest rates won t affect cap rates why interest rates and cap rates are completely disconnected 00 12 02 Sam Wilsons And then you hear it the other way around And I don t know which ways up to be honest in the end But it is but just to confirm you re confirming what we ve been hearing is that there are some re trading happen We have we are seeing some softening in the market as a whole and just it is interesting to hear that Hey you know what gimme your offer 00 12 19 Sam Wilsons So at least I can take it back And that s been the word from the brokers too is like we need something to take back to our sellers just so they understand that this is where the market is now So yeah Yeah E even as you As a buyer you might feel like you re sending in an offensive bid which is okay 00 12 34 Sam Wilsons Yeah But That s what they re asking for 00 12 36 Leslie Awasom Yeah Because if you think about it at the end of the deal the deals still have to cash flow Yeah Maybe the cash flows might not be as as robust as they were a few years back But buyers would not buy deals that are doing a negative cash flow that are really that tight 00 12 49 Leslie Awasom So It s just a higher risk So I do believe some softening would happen but maybe not as drastic as as people think it might get just because multifamily is still a very strong asset class with a lot of growth potential still 00 13 01 Sam Wilsons Yep Yep Absolutely I think that s really cool 00 13 04 Sam Wilsons Give me gimme one thing one one nugget on the asset management side that you say man here is something that you just gotta have in order when you re the asset manager 00 13 15 Leslie Awasom You like you gotta stay on top of your numbers You gotta Be able to trend everything on a monthly basis Guys stay on top of your numbers understand what those numbers mean and how you could influence those numbers because that s where the key really that s where you have the power as an asset management to make these assets perform very well 00 13 34 Leslie Awasom So you really do have to understand the story behind those numbers and what role you could play to to affect those 00 13 40 Sam Wilsons Give me an example of a number you feel like that is something that you can directly influence that you should really be paying attention to 00 13 48 Leslie Awasom I tend to look at it from a much bigger picture but the simple things for example just going into a property you might see a water bill that s been outrageous where as an asset management you might come in and implement some kind of a water savings program and you re able to decrease that and increase your NOI tremendously 00 14 04 Leslie Awasom And the other piece is like maintenance cost Like what I ve found in some of our assets is like by having a very good qualified maintenance personnel on staff that is well paid but that has several skills Right You could provide a lot of tools for the for that person front and it s gonna save you a ton in maintenance upfront 00 14 23 Leslie Awasom And which is something that we re experiencing one of our assets which is like finding the right qualified maintenance on site person that has those skills that you don t have to outsource a lot of the jobs that are involved in this assets that could save you a ton of money on your maintenance cost long 00 14 40 Sam Wilsons Yeah absolutely Do you guys help find that maintenance person or is that the property manager s job It s the 00 14 46 Leslie Awasom property manager but we try to kind of give a direction of of where we want to go And our property management team has a lot of exposure In the Southeast market So they have a large footprint and they can kind of it s just about giving some side sort of direction and then they go out and look for that person for you 00 15 02 Leslie Awasom So so it s one of the things we talk about our property management team up front When we taking over these assets Yeah 00 15 08 Sam Wilsons absolutely What do you do when you aren t getting the numbers you want from the property management team And I what I mean by that is when Hey I need the last week s report on Monday morning and then Monday comes and goes and you don t have those numbers 00 15 20 Sam Wilsons What do you do 00 15 21 Leslie Awasom Well you just have to remind them the importance of getting those numbers on time My our approach has been to empower whoever we work with to take responsibility for what they re doing so that we don t have to sit on top of them every day And and we promote good behavior 00 15 37 Leslie Awasom Right So we focus in on what you re doing right And we promote that and we push that forward and we found that has really worked very well And our property managers our team members are ready to go above and beyond for us because they feel like they re part of the journey of this asset 00 15 52 Leslie Awasom They feel like they re part of the journey that are investors are joining us along The way we so so so far it has worked really well And if there s something that is not done right like not getting a report out on time we ll point it out to you and then hold you to the higher expectation but make you feel like you are the one who is coming up with a much higher expectation 00 16 09 Leslie Awasom Like so the property manager s gonna set the goal to have this on time by this time then we ll hold you accountable 00 16 15 Sam Wilsons Right I love it I love it Lastly thank you for taking the time to come on today and really give us the insight into what it means to be an asset manager What it means on the underwriting side how you guys are finding opportunity what you guys are doing to stay competitive your thoughts really on the market 00 16 31 Sam Wilsons And then just talking about your the way you educate Your investors your educational events that you put out I think that s really cool what you guys are doing Certainly appreciate you coming on If our listeners wanna get in touch with you learn more about you your every Tuesday underwriting event any of those things what is the best way to do that 00 16 47 Leslie Awasom First off Thank you Sam Thank you so much for having us on your platform and giving us opportunities to continue to share on what we do to the larger community Yes You could get in touch with myself or any one of my amazing partners by write our information is all available on our website which is www do X as in XLOPHONE S as in Sam it capital com 00 17 10 Leslie Awasom XSITE capital com Feel free reach out to any one of us We love talking to to to people and learning more about ways that we could help you at Tuesday underwriting classes every Tuesday night at 8 00 PM If you are interested in that as well there will be a means for you to join our community to become part of getting communications about everything that we do 00 17 29 Leslie Awasom So come join us However way we could help you in your growth journey Don t hesitate to reach out to 00 17 34 Sam Wilsons Fantastic Lastly thank you again I appreciate it Have a great rest of your day 00 17 38 Leslie Awasom All right Thank you so much Sam Thanks for having me Click here to visit this podcast episode