Real Estate Wealth in Emerging Markets
Real Estate Wealth in Emerging Markets
How can business owners combine real estate investment with community impact?
A key decision that catapulted me was moving to Baltimore City. I had been living in Washington, DC, where I spent my adult years. I wanted to start investing in real estate, and I saw the growth happening in DC, so I believed Baltimore could be a similar opportunity. I moved to Baltimore without knowing anyone, driven by a goal and a strategy. My plan was to buy blocks of real estate and create a movement around property investment and transformation.
As I shared my vision with people, I found that every conversation led to more introductions. I quickly started connecting with institutional leaders, members of Congress, and successful business leaders in Baltimore. Baltimore is a big city with a small-city vibe, which works in your favor if you have a meaningful purpose.
An important lesson is that your purpose should always benefit others. People aren’t interested in helping you make money, but they are eager to help if you are committed to making a difference for others. This mindset led me to create a membership-based organization with people who shared my mission. As I built my team and infrastructure, I raised about a million dollars in capital and started buying properties.
I focused on "developmental displacement"—buying properties and giving current community renters an opportunity to own their homes. Through a rent-to-own model and financial literacy education, residents could buy the properties from me within five years, allowing them to build wealth through homeownership. My focus has always been on financial literacy and real estate as pathways to building wealth, which is a constant in all my endeavors.
When should business owners reassess partnerships and debt strategies?
In 2017, I was buying properties, accumulating assets, and taking on significant debt. It's important to understand the difference between good debt and bad debt. Good debt makes you money, while bad debt drains money and loses value. I had about 30-40 properties in my portfolio, and things were going smoothly. I was in the process of bringing in $50 million to expand my model when COVID hit, shutting everything down.
An important lesson I learned during this time is that while I have a talent for seeing potential in others, it can also be a curse. I often chose to work with people based on their promises, even if they had bad credit. I believed I could help them through my programs. However, during the pandemic, when laws allowed tenants to skip rent and prevented evictions, many chose not to pay. This put me in a million dollars of bad debt.
To recover, I had to pivot and focus on learning from these mistakes. The biggest takeaway is the importance of a discernment process for choosing who you do business with. You need to verify that people are who they say they are, committed to what they promise, and dedicated to growth. Many will agree when you offer something, but very few follow through. This costly mistake taught me to prioritize social capital and relationships over transactions.
When business is based only on transactions, things can get complicated. Lawyers get involved, and trust breaks down, making it stressful. While it's possible to make money that way, the stress is immense. Business will always have challenges; it’s about having the right people by your side who are willing to work through problems together.
Why should business owners prioritize building strong systems?
I would focus on developing my systems. Once systems are well-established, they can be modified, expanded, measured, and changed. The entire world operates on systems—whether it's the education system, criminal justice system, traffic system, financial banking systems, or real estate systems. Systems are the core components that enable growth and stability. You can hire people to fit within a system, or let them go, but the system itself ensures your business stays on track and grows.
How can business owners focus on intentional relationship building?
I don’t like the term "networking," but I do believe in intentional connecting. Networking often feels transactional, like handing out business cards and expecting something in return. Connecting, on the other hand, is about co-creating and building together. I intentionally incorporate this into my daily routine, dividing my day into revenue-generating activities and relationship-building activities.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
