- Introduction to Omar Mohamed
- How Omar got into real estate
- Achieving financial freedom through drive and determination
- How Omar leverages
- How he’s gotten to where he is
- https://www.instagram.com/mr.propertyo/?hl=en
- https://www.facebook.com/mr.propertylive/
- https://omarmohamed.org/
- Contact Number: 843-619-3005
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exitstrategiesradioshow/
- FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/exitstrategiessc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoSuynJd5c4qQ_eDXLJaZA
- Website: https://www.exitstrategiesradioshow.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmelette/ Shoutout to our Sponsor: MEME EUBANKS Do you want something more? More Meaningful Moments opportunities, deeper relationships and memorable experiences? Do you want to make a difference? If you say YES, a career and real estate could be the opportunity you’re looking for guiding people to one of the most important decisions they ever made, the purchase or sale of their home can be both rewarding and lucrative. Exit Realty has a revolutionary compensation model training and technology that provides you with the tools you need to start and build your successful real estate career. Call me today MEME EUBANKS Your Country REALTOR at 843-730-3327 that’s 843-730-3327 or visit exitlowcountry.com/joinexit and make your EXIT today.
Episode 82: Success Mindset: The 7 Year Real Estate Journey of Omar Mohamed
CORWYN:
Good morning, good morning, and good morning guys. Welcome to another fabulous episode of Exit Strategies Radio Show. Hey, I am your host, Corwyn J. Melette. Broker and owner of Exit Realty Lowcountry group in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. If this is your first time listening to this show you sir or ma’am are in for a treat. Because our mission here is very simple, at least it’s simple to me. That is to empower our community through financial literacy and real estate education, real legacy building over here, that is what we do. So guys, as I always tell you, when you’re doing those things, making dreams come true for your family, we want you to put a hashtag on that thing that says, legacy building, because that is what you are doing. So look, we have been having an amazing run with our show. We’ve been engaging with people across the country and around the world. We’ve been bringing messages to you of hope, inspiration, encouragement, and motivation, we’ve been bringing it to your doorstep, and we have been beaten down your door with it. And today is no different. Guys, I’m very humbled to have with us an investor and entrepreneur. I mean, he’s the man. Omar Mohamed. Omar, how are you doing today?
OMAR:
Corwyn, I’m doing fantastic. Wow. Just very inspiring, what you guys do out there and I love everything you guys do. I’m super excited to be here with you today.
CORWYN:
Well, I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. So, Omar, you are like the, if you will the epitome of what many of our listeners endeavor. So you are like I’m gonna let you tell your story. I’m not going to tell it. But you are grassroots. I mean, starting from here. And now you’re here on the way there. So I don’t want to steal your thunder, my man. But tell our listeners about you about this journey and this walk that you’ve been on.
OMAR:
Absolutely. Thank you. It’s been an amazing journey. You know, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. But my name is Omar Mohammed. I just turned 30 in November. My story started when I was back home. And that’s Egypt. I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to the States with a dream, like as you said, legacy building, changing your life for your family. And for everybody. You know, that was my dream. So I’m 20 years old. I was lucky and worked super hard to get the chance to come to the land of opportunity, which is the United States of America. And I couldn’t be happier Corwyn for this news to come here. No money. No, I was in college. I didn’t even finish. But I wasn’t planning on staying in America. That wasn’t the plan. It was a cultural exchange program. I was supposed to be here for three months and then go back. However, when I saw the opportunity here, I took the biggest decision I’ve ever taken in my whole life. I remember I called my mom and I was like, Hey, I know I told you the program is 90 days. But Mom, this could change everything. You know, we don’t have to worry about anything from now on. If I would stay here and as any mom with a 20-year-old kid, she cried. She was like when am I gonna see you again? I was like hopefully soon and I took the biggest decision I decided to stay in America and it took me seven years before I was able to reunite with my family. So you know it took some time ‘til I got citizenship, everything so I could fly back home. And the journey has been amazing and started working. I learned a lot through the journey met a lot of adversity and but it helped me shape who I am today. And you know I look at it back and I was like I didn’t come that far only come that far. I need to make something out of this, And through my search, through my realization. I came across the l estate which I know everybody’s here for but I run into what everybody runs into. I work a full-time job. You know, I don’t know anything and I don’t have money. You know I make good money as my W2 job, but not to go purchase or put 20% down in the real estate. And I was like, there has to be a way. So I started learning about real estate, I got into real estate and I’m very excited to say in my very first year, I acquired six properties, and six units with none of my money.
CORWYN:
So, Omar, I’ma bring you back just a smidgen. But we got to go forward because the rest of the story is amazing. But you just touched on something we’re very big on this show about mindset about the sacrifices that it requires. Because success is not bought, it is earned. And in turn, you know, people nowadays seem to believe that just because they want something, you know, instant gratification, if you will, you know, we got this drive-thru mentality, all we got to do is just pull to the window, or pull to the little mic, request success driver onto the window, you know, slides a debit card in, a limo comes out in the bag. I mean, that’s what we think. But you made a major sacrifice, man, seven years, seven years that you didn’t see your immediate family. That, man that’s heart-wrenching. But it’s part of your journey. It’s part of your story. So, what drove you to real estate investing? I mean, you have a massive desire and we haven’t taken massive action, a massive desire to do something greater, to give back and help your family as a whole. But what drove you to real estate?
OMAR:
Great question. And yes, to touch on the point. I always say life, and I had to learn that life doesn’t give you what you want, it gives you what you deserve. Right? So I started like, Okay, I want to become a real estate investor. That doesn’t mean anything. I want to become a millionaire, I want to be able to travel, you can want all that you want. But if you don’t deserve it, you won’t get it. So you have to deserve that. So I always look at it like, what does the financially free person do? What does he or she, you know, doing regular paces, you know, I bet you they don’t waste time. But you take care of their body, I bet you they take care of their mind, they do this, they read, and then life gives you what you deserve, not what you want. And that’s been a major lesson in my life, and you just touched on that. But what drove me into real estate, is financial freedom after I got my citizenship, and I was able to go back the very first time, on my way back on the airplane, it’s a long flight, 12 hours, and you get a lot of self-realization there. And I was like, Am I free? I came to America, for freedom, I came to America to achieve a dream. But what does that dream really if you have somebody who has to tell you where to be and when to be and your vacation time? And I was like, I cannot just stay here and not go back. See my family. I only went for two weeks and work was like Omar– and they were great. They were like, take the time you need with your family. You haven’t seen them in seven years. But soon enough, you gotta be back. And I was like, So when can I go back? There are some people I haven’t even seen yet. You know, two weeks wasn’t enough. And they’re like, Well, you have a vacation. And I was like, that’s not freedom. You know, just being American? Yes, there’s a lot of freedom compared to other countries. But the actual freedom is when you’re able to pick your schedule and can decide what you want to do. So I was like, there has to be another way to make money while I’m not at the job. Right. But again, at that time, I didn’t have any reading or any self-development just didn’t even know about it. So I was like, What do I need to do? I start searching. And I came across trading penny stocks. It was my very first thing. But real quick, I figured out that’s not the way so I was like that cannot I couldn’t I didn’t even trade and I was like that’s not it. Then I came across wholesaling real estate. And that was my intro. So mainly getting into real estate I wanted to build a machine or business or investment where the money could come so I could go back. That was my necessity. I want to go back and see my little brother, my little sister, and my mom, I want to be around my people. But I cannot stop the money from coming because if the money stops coming. It’s a big issue, who’s going to pay the bills? Who’s going to take care of the family? So I needed that and real estate was the answer.
CORWYN:
Wow. Wow. So I love that journey, man. And I keep getting hung up. Because you know, it talks about the sacrifice, the commitment that is necessary for success, you know, so I run a brokerage and, you know, we have agents, who are a part of our group here, and it’s a constant conversation because oftentimes, people just think it miraculously just happens. Just think that Hey, I’m doing this, and all of a sudden the money just starts flowing as you turned on the faucet and it’s boom, boom, boom, like, but no, you really gotta beat you looking at you gotta prom to pump before you open the faucet, you know, and to make sure you got something in there, which means that you got to make sacrifices, you got to put in the effort, you got to put in a lot of work. So you started with wholesaling. So, you know, for our listeners, you know, guys, if you’re listening, you’re gonna say to South Carolina, I’m a disclaimer here, wholesale in the state of South Carolina requires a real estate license. Alright, let’s let that be from the Commission, the commissioner’s mouth himself, or the chairman of the commission, itself, it requires a license in the state of South Carolina. So if you are on the other side of a wholesale deal in it, and the person that is doing a deal knows that you’re doing a deal with someone who isn’t licensed, then please understand that is a licensed practice in the state of South Carolina. But Omar, where you are, that may not be the case. But you got into wholesaling. And then from there, where did you go?
OMAR:
So I started with wholesaling. That was my intro. But then I figured out that’s not what I want to do, because it’s another job. I look at wholesaling or flipping. It’s not in real estate investing. It’s a job. It’s another job. It requires time. And I was like no, but it was my intro. It taught me how to find deals. So I started getting good at it. And again, I’m still working my full-time job, by the way. I haven’t left that yet. You know, and I commissioner’s to a lot of people who start, you know, they find something to jump on it. There are so many good things I learned a lot from my full-time job. I’m an area sales executive. So I learned a lot from sales managing people and that helped me through a lot plus banks love you when you see they see a W2 for a long time. They love it. So I was like no wholesaling. I can’t do that, you know, it’s so required, it’s a job. So I was like I need investment. So but I was finding these deals. And I was, know selling them or reassigning them to cash buyers. So I started getting close to these cash buyers. What do you guys do with these deals, they’re like we rent them. I was like, I like that. So you rent, you can travel money, money’s still coming, I want to do that. But I don’t have money. So I started getting into learning about real estate and investing was not too low money down. You know, there are a lot of great books. And I believe Brandon Turner used to be on bigger pockets. He has a book that’s called Investing was not too little money. And that book talks about how you can get into real estate with no money. It’s not easy. Is anybody listening, I know sometimes people make it sound super easy. You could just, you know, as you said, Turn on the faucet, and you get the deals, it’s not like that. But it’s possible. Because again, you don’t want it to be easy anyway. Because if it’s easy, everybody will do it. If it’s easy, it’s not rewarding. But it’s very possible. It requires work, it requires you to do something most people are not willing to do. But then you’ll have something they don’t have. So that’s what got me in real estate wholesaling. And then I needed to shift to owning these properties that I was finding in a great deal. And turn away. Okay, I can assign for 5k 8k. But that doesn’t mean anything. Because it’s a job, I need to do it again. And I need to keep doing it. So that’s what got me started.
OMAR:
That is priceless. Um, because you know, real estate is always a long ball game. You know, it always is, um, you know, you touched on a book you read and that took me back. So, you know, Omar, before I got, I mean several years before I got a real estate license, you know, I just spent time reading books. One book I read was, I think something the title was along the vein of How to Buy A House With No Money Down or something or whatever, something along this similar vein, probably wasn’t the same book, I don’t believe it was, but this was 2020 some odd years ago when I read this book. And you know, and it was centered upon how to leverage OPP, other people’s money, which is financing, whether it be through, you know, traditional lending, institutions, banks, or whether it be through private funding or what have you. And, you know, we have a connection in all areas, right, to help our investors with that kind of stuff. But you, you leverage primarily what I’m understanding here and primarily with the banks, am I correct?
OMAR:
No. So I leverage hard money lenders, you know, which there are people out there that will lend you the money if you find a good deal. They’ll give you the money to buy the deal. They’ll give you the money to renovate, then I’ll go back to the bank and refinance. I would do a burst strategy then once the bank refinances, they give me the money back, I’ll give it to the hard money lender, they got their money back and I got the property. And guess what sometimes I walk away with a check if I push enough value. So if I find a really good deal, let’s say it’s the deal is going to be 100k when it’s done just to make it easy every deal in real estate is 100k when you give an example, it’s 100k when it’s done, that’s the ARV the after repair value for people who are, you know, new. So if I knew if I buy this house and fix it, the bank will come back and be like, hey, looking at the comps there, looking at what sold in the area, let’s say it’s two bed, one bath, and they’re selling for 100k. I know for this house if I fix it up to the neighborhood houses to the same standards, I’ll get 100k. So let’s say buy it for 20. And it needs 30 to fix, I’m holding 50k so the bank will give you 70. So the bank will give me 70k to walk away with. So that means I borrow 50, I fix the house now it’s worth 100. Right? Give me 70, I can give the 50 back, walk away with a 20k check, and houses I can run with the cash flow, and I still get the house with no money down. So in the beginning, I was skeptical. You know, it was like sound too good to be true. Yeah. But I start seeing it by reading more and doing research. And I just jumped right in. And I did that. So that was one, I think creative finance, which is seller finance, I’ve done a couple of these seller finance. And I’ve done a 203k loan as well with some of the listeners, which is a really good one, it’s an FHA, they give you the money, buy money to fix it with three and a half percent down very low entry. And, yeah, that’s, that’s how I got in.
CORWYN:
So you know, your 301– I was about to say 301. I know what I’m thinking about that shout-out to 301 restaurants over in Florence, the food is delicious, the family is divine, and they are great people over there. So that’s what I was thinking about. I got the numbers twisted in my head, 301. But anyway, um, so the 203K program, a 203k program is a rehab program on FHA, which Omar, I know you know, this, but for our listeners, God requires you to owner occupy, you got to move into that house, but that doesn’t mean you got to stay there forever. So the trick, the key to this a trick to this is to buy it, move, renovate it, move into it, stay for some time, while you identify your next property, and then turn that into a rental,
OMAR:
Or do it up to four units, actually behind me, that’s my 203k house and still live in. So I bought it, bought a duplex, renting the other half, you know, my tenant up there, thank you, they’re paying the mortgage, and I’m living for free. You know. So that’s, that’s the best way to do it, in my opinion, in multifamily, they will only do it up to four units. So you can take advantage of that. And for three and a half percent down. Plus, you can build equity too. Because if you get something like, you know, beat up a little bit, you buy it, you fix it, you force appreciation, now it’s worth more than what you owe on it. So you have equity, and it’s cash flow, and you’re living for free. So for starters, I think it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of sure.
CORWYN:
I can, I always have this conversation and, you know, with people, and sometimes with myself, I had this thing to do all over again. What would I do differently? And one of the things that sometimes come up in that is that strategy you just spoke about, which is you move in, you buy multifamily first property instead of you buying– because a lot of people you know, they want the dream. But they want the dream today, they believe that a dream deferred is a dream denied versus a dream deferred is a dream obtained. But with that moving into the multifamily duplex, triplex, or quad, because you can do that with FHA and another government-insured financing, it allows you the opportunity to leverage yourself up as you said, you get your tenants paying the mortgage, you get to live for free. So you get to save that money as you seek to identify your next property going forward. That is an amazing strategy. And I love that. So you are a business owner. So you are, in most times when people are like you, Omar, they are serial entrepreneurs. Like we see a business and everything right.
OMAR:
You just start seeing the opportunities. It’s amazing. And I would like to say two businesses now as well. I have a construction company, which real estate taught me that I was like, okay, so if I’m doing all these, you know, rehabs, excessive renovations, I need a reliable crew. And as everybody knows, everybody has a story with a contractor. And when I was just starting, I couldn’t afford a big mistake. So I was on top of these contractors, and I probably it was my fault. Like I probably made a lot of them just leave because I was that guy that was like, Oh, what you doin’ here?? What’s that? What’s this? Again? I’m borrowing a lot of money. I could not mess up. There was just no change. So I was I didn’t want to be as involved but I just have to be and I was, again, it’s a lot of money that I can’t afford to pay back. So I was very involved. But what that taught me is okay. I did six houses like that I knew exactly what goes into construction. In my very first one, people walked in and they were talking about like, you know, soffit and facia. And I had no clue what that was, I thought it was in the bathroom, you know, not the roof. You know, I have no clue I have 0 construction experience. Zero, don’t know anything. But because I’ve done all that I stopped learning. And then I saw the opportunity to have a good crew. So I kept the crew busy. And then my friends were like, hey, I need to renovate this bathroom. Could you help me? Can you send the crew that you have? And I was like sure. And then I was like, You know what, there’s an opportunity. Just go get my license, and get the insurance. And I do construction here in Pittsburgh, for investors as well. So when I don’t have deals, my crews are working for other people as well. And it’s bringing more money. So and I also do online. You know, I’m growing the online platform, I’m working on my very first book, and working on teaching people, especially minorities, immigrants, and first-time investors, new investors how to get into real estate, even if you don’t have money, because it’s very possible.
CORWYN:
And, you know, that’s the thing. Now, that doesn’t mean that– I was reminded yesterday of a quote that I have in my email signature. So, I was with a group yesterday, somebody in the group, kind of pulled in conversation, know that I love that quote, and this quote is something, Omar that I’ve, you know, had, you know, it’s been my signature my email, since I started in the business almost 19 years ago. And it says, “If I pray for bread, but bring no basket, I may prove the doubting spirit was which may be the hindrance to the gift that I asked.” So basically, it is along that vein of we want to achieve something, but we don’t, even though we want bread, even though we don’t have bread if we show up with a basket, we can get bread, but only if we show up with a basket. Because if we bring no basket, that means we expect to get no bread
So I love that energy about you, Okay, well, look, I don’t have any money, but I got to drive and determination. So I’m gonna show up, I’m going to figure out a way to, okay, identify this property, let me figure out a way to get it financed. Let me figure out a way to get this property under contract, let me figure out a way to get this deal done. And the more that you figure out, the more things present themselves to be sorted out, which in turn becomes how you begin to increase and grow revenue. That is impressive. Now you work primarily in what markets.
OMAR:
I’ve just stayed in Pittsburgh so far. And that’s where I’m located. And all my properties are here and staying in Pittsburgh. And actually, it’s a really good market. Because you can achieve here, higher rent and low properties, you can achieve the 1% to 2% rule. And for those who are not familiar, is for cash flow. So you want to be all in. Let’s say again, 100k, you want to lease rentals for 1000? Well, here in Pittsburgh, you can buy a property for 100k or be all in 100k. And it can rent for 1600. You know, 1700? So it’s a really good market. There are a lot of cheap properties, the weather’s not the best, I’d say that it rains a lot. You know, it’s not It’s not as nice as like where you’re at, it gets cold. But it’s a good market for real estate investment, with a lot of opportunity. There are a lot of people from California to buy here and overseas. And from all around that. It’s a really good market to be at. But yeah, you’re right, especially touching on showing up and figuring it out. I remember I told myself, I was like, you know because, in the beginning, I didn’t know anybody super close with personnel that does real estate, or have done that. Like, I didn’t have somebody in the family. I didn’t have any neighbors that does that. But I was like, Okay, I need to learn this. This is my only option so far that I could achieve what I want. I could go back to Egypt. I could go see my family more, I could travel, and I could have freedom. I’m either gonna make it or not, or not like I’m just gonna go in, I’ll figure it out. You know, like burn your boat. I was like, it doesn’t matter what’s going to happen. We’ll figure out a bet on me 100 times in. Now, did I accomplish so many, and not even that I bought one once I got my first one? Within a couple of months. I got two more. We were like, what are you doing? I was like, they were such great deals, I’ll figure it out, you know, and start renovating and start moving and this information is out there. Anybody could take this information that’s out there. It’s on YouTube, it’s on social media, it’s in the books, and put it into work, but they just have to make it a necessity. Right, it has to become a necessity and all of a sudden you know they will go after their goals. But yeah, it’s been amazing. I love real estate. Changed my life.
CORWYN:
So, you know, you said something in there that when you give yourself an option for failure, you will find it more than you will find success. You know, there used to be that you know people this adage, you know, Omar that people would say that failure is not an option. And the reality is that people now spend so much time comparing themselves to other people. Social media is, unfortunately, in the things that it is good. There is so much that is contrary to good health. You know, you get caught up tied up trying to achieve what others have achieved, not understanding their sacrifice and their story. You get so caught up in trying to live glamorously on social media that, you know, you are putting, if you will, a bandaid on, on a calamity, because you’re really not there just simply to show face. So we have to be careful with that. Because, again, success requires commitment. It requires, you know, determinist stick-to-it-iveness, if you will, to achieve those things. So, Omar, I know you are always willing to help to answer questions for people. How can our listeners get in contact with you?
OMAR:
Instagram? All social media, I’m on all of them they go by Mr. PropertyO, it’s property. MrPropertyO, Mr. Property, Omar Mohamed, I put a lot of content out there on TikTok, social media, and YouTube, you know, and I’m, I’m putting more because people finding the information very valuable like I will break down the deals or break down how to get houses was, you know, seller finance, where you don’t need the bank. You don’t need the cash. You don’t need a downpayment, you don’t need anything. The seller carries the mortgage. You know, you pay him the mortgage, instead of going to the bank. And then you put a tenant in there that pays more than the mortgage and your cash flow so you take what’s in the middle. There are so many ways. So definitely feel free to follow me, DM me, ask me questions, love to help, love to answer all the questions then social media is the best way.
CORWYN:
Awesome, awesome. Well, Omar, thank you so much for being here with us today. Thank you for sharing your story. Your story is one of encouragement it’s one of hope. But your story is still ongoing. So we want to touch back with you in the future. Because your story is still unfolding, I don’t believe to be blunt about it, that you even remotely scratched the surface. So I’m gonna speak that to you. Because you gotta go, you gotta keep going. So again, thank you so much for being on the show today. Um, thank you for taking the time for dropping the jewels of the wisdom of you know of determination, motivation, and inspiration for our listeners. To our listeners, guys. Look, this was an awesome show. You got to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. You got to hear from someone who is coming over, you know, oftentimes, you know, we look at and think about, you know, what we got to go through, and as old folks say, you know, we got to make it over, you got to get over. And Omar has made it over on some things, but he is still yet going over on his other stuff, which is building his real estate business, his real estate portfolio. And it’s something that any of us, all of us who are listening to this show can do. Real estate has changed his life. I can tell you personally, it has changed mine. Again, Omar, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Exit Strategies Radio Show family. Again, one more time to our listeners, guys, we love you. You know I say that all the time. So I’m gonna tell to you like I always do. In closing for today’s show, guys. You know how I feel about you. I love you. I love you. I love you. And we gon’ see you guys out there in the streets.