How To Get Started in Multifamily Investing

Are you willing to go from being comfortable to uncomfortable to achieve success?

 

Ola Dantis recounts how he moved to the US with nothing but $180 in his pocket. He started knowing nothing about real estate until he started paying attention and working hard to learn the ropes. Since then, he has amassed a portfolio of multifamily units and founded the syndication firm, Dwellynn. Ola tells us that it was not easy to get to where he is today, but that staying laser-focused on his goals has helped him succeed. Tune in and you’ll surely be inspired by his story!

 

[00:01 - 09:45] From Having Nothing to Buying His First Property

Ola looks back on his first time going to the United States Being invited on his first mastermind The importance of paying attention and taking advantage of available resources to learn How Ola was able to finance his first duplex Know about the FHA loan

 

[09:46 - 13:41] Making the Move to Multifamily

Building cash flow as a landlord How Ola took action and found a mentor Falling victim to the shiny object syndrome What Ola’s business looks like today

 

[13:42 - 20:10] Creating Impact While Still Being Profit-Minded

The goal is not just senselessly accumulating wealth How Ola and his team are giving a house to a family in need mortgage-free through the 1HousePledge The strategies Dwellynn is currently doing to stay competitive Don’t squeeze deals just for the sake of squeezing deals

 

[20:11 - 22:07] Closing Segment

Reach out to Ola!  Links Below Final Words

Tweetable Quotes

 

“It was my first time in America and I was like, it’s beautiful down here. I'm not just saying it just ‘cause I'm just saying it, but I just want folks that were born here, that live here, that have grown up here, to just take a step back and appreciate what they have.” - Ola Dantis

 

“Get a mentor. Get somebody that's done whatever you're trying to do. I don't care if it's brain surgery or buying properties.” - Ola Dantis

“Make sure when you choose your path, keep going on that path until you succeed. Before you start to consider other paths, make sure you succeed.” - Ola Dantis

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Connect with Ola! Check out the Dwellynn website or type in investwithola.com to be part of multifamily investment opportunities! Follow him, too, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

 

Resources Mentioned

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Jim Huling, and Sean Covey

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Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below:

[00:00:00] Ola Dantis: You leave money on the table because you're not trying to squeeze a deal just to squeeze a deal's sake, right? Because when you do that, it's karma, I believe in this stuff, right? Because when you try to squeeze a deal as a seller, trying to sell a deal and squeeze everything, you might end up buying a deal that isn't, that is not good for your investors too.

[00:00:28] Sam Wilson: Ola is the founder and CEO at Dwellynn, a multifamily syndication firm. Ola, welcome to the show. 

[00:00:37] Ola Dantis: Thank you so much for having me, Sam. Appreciate it.

[00:00:40] Sam Wilson: Pleasure is mine. Three questions I ask every guest who comes to the show: 90 seconds or less. Where did you start? Where are you now? How'd you get there?

[00:00:46] Ola Dantis: Started with I'm a duplex. Right now, got a bunch of units under my belt. What was the last question? 

[00:00:54] Sam Wilson: Where did you start? Where are you now? How'd you get there?

[00:00:57] Ola Dantis: I got there by partnering, being humble, learning, moving quickly, taking action. Is that like super-duper quick, right? It's like lightning speed. 

[00:01:08] Sam Wilson: I like it. No. Hey, that's great. That definitely puts the 90 seconds or less. You know, one of the things that, you know, kind of part of your story, I think that we want to hear on this episode is really kind of maybe some backstory. How long have you been here in the United States? 

[00:01:24] Ola Dantis: So been in the United States now, I think probably about eight, nine years at this point. I've done a, a great lot of lived on three continents. I love to say this because I think we all forget, myself included, in this beautiful country in the United States. I've lived on three continents and this is the best one. 

[00:01:42] Sam Wilson: That's awesome. That is awesome. So tell us your story. I mean, how, how did you go? You know, really? I think we, when we talked off air, you said you came to the US with nothing. So, how have you gone in nine years from nothing to now owning a ton of multifamily? 

[00:01:59] Ola Dantis: Yeah. I like to tell the story the same way, my wife would disagree and say, well, we didn't come with nothing. She would say we came with like $180. I think we had when we got here. Yeah. So close to nothing, but you know, my wife basically was initially interning in Disney, Florida, Orlando, and, you know, I came to the US for the very first time and I'm a window seat guy so I remember just kind of sitting in the plane, I'm looking down to Orlando and kind of looking at the suburbia and how you have all the lines of the houses and the houses that just all symmetrical and the palm trees, they were just greenery.

[00:02:41] Ola Dantis: And, and it was just my first time in America and I was like, oh, Goodness. It is beautiful down here. I'm just saying there's not just cause I'm just saying it, but I just want folks that were born here, that live here, that have grown up here to just take a step back and appreciate what they have, right? And I remember like coming down from the plane and I was like, oh my goodness.

[00:03:01] Ola Dantis: Like, it is freaking beautiful in I'm in America. Like, oh my God. I think two years after that, we moved to the United States, well, we moved to Baltimore, Maryland. That's a different story for another day, but that was just kind of like my first taste of the United States. So anyway, we moved here, my wife and I, we lived in a few different cities, but we kind of settled on Maryland.

[00:03:25] Ola Dantis: And I remember shortly thereafter that, you know, my wife got a job and I got a job. And then, you know, got plugged in into the American dream which is fantastic. If you don't believe me, try some other places where I've lived. You believe in pretty quickly, it was a great dream. We had jobs, my wife had a job and she had a job.

[00:03:43] Ola Dantis: So I remember kind of waking up, going to work, coming back home, waking up, traffic going to work, come back home. I was like, geez, I love this dream. But there's, I mean, I mean, there's gotta be something else. I mean, if I do this for the next 30, 40 years, that's pretty monotonous. There's gotta be something else for me to do, but I didn't know what that was.

[00:04:01] Ola Dantis: At the time, you know, and so in the timeline, this was like two years in America, right? The honeymoon phase. And I'd like to say it this way, success never comes in a golden box with a red ribbon around it, right? So kind of when I was like, pondering this thought, like, what do I have to do next?

[00:04:19] Ola Dantis: Like, I got a phone call from a friend of mine. And he said, Hey, can you come to Dubai and meet me and help me with my business. Now this is the part I'm talking about. So pay attention. I could have said to my friend, no, not doing that. I'm not going to fly. You know, this was way before the pandemic, way before Zoom, way before, you know, so I did what every smart man does.

[00:04:41] Ola Dantis: I spoke to my wife said, Hey, my friend called me as I asked me to meet him in Dubai. And obviously, now I know what, that was a mastermind, but at the time, I didn't know what a mastermind was. But anyway, she said, Hey, why don't you guys, you know, Skype? You know, this was, you know, back then Skype or, you know, just do a video call or something. Why do you have to go all the way there? And I was like, well, I told my wife, maybe I could learn something on this trip, right? Long story short, I was on the plane to Dubai to meet my friend and my friend at the time, what you know is based in the UK. And he was kind of showing me what he was doing in the UK, which was property investing, right?

[00:05:18] Ola Dantis: We call it real estate investing in America and kind of helped him in that. You know, we're just like in a very standard hotel, nothing fancy, just we were there for like three days masterminding on my friend's business and I kind of helped him kind of rehab his business, you know, help them out and I was like, geez like this, guy's doing really well in the UK.

[00:05:38] Ola Dantis: On my way back on the plane, I was like, I think I can do this in America, but I knew nothing about properties, right? So when I go back to America, I went to my next best friend and said, Hey, Google, what is real estate? what is real estate, right? Did a lot of Googling.

[00:05:55] Ola Dantis: I saw this website kept coming up, biggerpockets.com, paid attention, went to that, you know, website, then I go plug into their podcast, starting from the bottom, literally, from the very podcast, listening to every single podcast. This is how I got started. Pay attention again, anyone listening to this, and then every guest kept saying, you know, when they ask them, what's the book that you recommend?

[00:06:19] Ola Dantis: Yeah, like, Rich Dad Poor Dad. So now of course, right? Now I went to my second best friend, Amazon. Pay attention. The reason I'm saying this thing, pay attention, is those are the tricks. Those are the acts. They're very subtle. They're nuanced, but they're very important. You don't know about anything, go to Google. You live in 2022, right? You don't know how to do something, go to Amazon. Tons of books. Literally millions, maybe billions of books now, right? So you don't have any excuse, right? Came here with nothing. So that's what I'm mentioning. I'm not just telling you a story just to get long-winded.

[00:06:53] Ola Dantis: I want people to pay attention, right? So got that book, read that book and I made the connection to my wake up, go to work, do it again. I was like, oh my goodness, this Robert Kiyosaki guy stole my idea and put it in the book. This is exactly what I was wrestling with, pondering. So when I read that book, it all made sense for me and two, I think, three months after reading that book, I bought my first property in America.

[00:07:22] Ola Dantis: This was at that time, my wife, my then-fiancee, we're living in a luxury apartment. Obviously, I didn't know about cash flow then. So I was the one paying cash flow, you know, but the good thing was I never cared about the trash days. I never care about property taxes. I never care about escrow. Like, what is an escrow?

[00:07:41] Ola Dantis: I don't even know what an escrow is, right? But I moved from that comfortable position of living in a luxury apartment building to buying a duplex in the city where I have to worry about parking my car. And now I was the landlord so I had to care about trash. I have to know what property taxes meant. I had to understand escrow.

[00:08:02] Ola Dantis: I had to learn all these things, but in that being uncomfortable, brought new success for my wife and I, right? So we moved from a comfortable position to an uncomfortable position, but the magic and beauty in being uncomfortable, sort of veiled itself in new ways that you never ever imagined, right? So we bought this duplex, right? We are tenants upstairs. So this is going from pain, like, you know, 1500 a month in rent in this fancy luxury apartment to now pay next to nothing because we have tenants upstairs paying most of the mortgage.

[00:08:41] Sam Wilson: Right. So you, you house hacked in a duplex? 

[00:08:45] Ola Dantis: Essentially, essentially, right? Yeah.

[00:08:47] Sam Wilson: That's awesome. That's awesome. Tell me how did you guys finance that first deal? If you came over here with nothing and then suddenly thinking, okay, came here with nothing. Yeah. You guys may have both had jobs. What was the financing? I think I was just curious how that works.

[00:09:01] Ola Dantis: Sam, it's paying attention. Hopefully just like a lot of folks listening to this. How did you go from nothing to buying a property? Good question. Now, remember my comment about this is the best continent. This is one of many reasons. You can buy a property in the United States with 3% down. I don't care where you are, in Idaho. You're like, it doesn't matter where you are. In this country, you need 3% down, 3.5 to be precise. The FHA loan for first-time homeowners in this great country. That's what we use. And this is available to everybody in this country. 

[00:09:37] Sam Wilson: Gotcha. Right. And because you were owner occupying it, you were able to get the FHA three and a half percent down. Got it. Oh, that's cool. When did you make the jump to multifamily?

[00:09:47] Ola Dantis: Yeah, good question, too. So we, my wife and I, we bought this duplex. We're living downstairs. We are tenants paying. You know, and I remember, you know, getting back from work, speaking to my wife, you know, doing what lovers do at night, when you get back from work, cooking, and we got talking and I said, Hey baby like I've realized something.

[00:10:06] Ola Dantis: My account just keeps growing and growing and growing because remember I was paying rent. Now I'm not. Now I have all this money. And she's like, oh my goodness, me too. So now both of us, we started kind of racking up, just cash from this slight change from paying rent to collecting rent.

[00:10:25] Ola Dantis: So we were like, oh my goodness. If we did five more of these, I think it would be good. Like, literally if I, more of them, I think will be good. So that's what kickstarted our journey into family, right? And so again, during my research, I found multifamily. So started listening to another podcast as well. And there was a guest that was on that podcast.

[00:10:52] Ola Dantis: And at the end, you know, you know, people say, Hey, you know, how come people get connected with this guest? How can we find, find out more about you. And the guest said, Hey, I'm going to give out my number, but of course nobody's going to call me. That guy gives his number. And obviously I wrote it down and guess what? I called him and the guy was like, um, hello? I was like, well I'm yeah. Hi, I'm Mr. Nobody,. Whatever you charge your students, I could never afford it. Again, pay attention. Success is never going to be like thrown in your face with cheerleaders screaming your name. It could be a podcast and it could be just you writing down a number and making the call.

[00:11:30] Ola Dantis: That's what success looks like, right? I think in our generation, we have this like skewed version of what success should look like with the red Ferrari and the Rolex watch and all that stuff. No, that's far from what success should look like, right? So I made that call. I knew I could never afford whatever that guy was offering.

[00:11:46] Ola Dantis: But I asked and negotiated, right? And I got it. So I started on that mentorship program. So in case you're still wondering what's the hack here, get a mentor. Get a mentor, get somebody that's done, whatever you, whatever you're trying to do. I don't care if it's brain surgery or buying properties, right? Find someone that is doing what you're trying to do.

[00:12:08] Ola Dantis: So I did that got into the multifamily cohort. I know we've, you know, in a group where guys were buying guys on girls buying apartment buildings, I was in that group learning the ropes. Learning the ropes. And then I met another guy. I said, Hey, guess what? We can go flip a house down the road in Baltimore and make like $50,000.

[00:12:27] Ola Dantis: Another hack, shiny object syndrome. Keep your focus, be laser-focused. But of course, I didn't know this then. So I said, oh, forget, it's more family stuff is taking too long. I want to buy today. So I jumped ship. I jumped ship and I went to flipping, just a couple of homes. Did not like it. I hated flipping actually.

[00:12:50] Ola Dantis: I was watching Joanna Gaines and Chip and they made it look so easy on HGTV. So I thought I could do this. I thought I could do this, right? So I did, you know, flipped a few houses, made some money, but definitely not what I wanted to do, but, as one of my favorite quotes, in life, there's always a price to pay. And there are never, ever any discounts. You're going to have to pay the full price, which I did because when I went flipping, yes, I made some money. But by the time I go back with my cohort, when I went back to multifamily and my, you know, my group, you know, guys that started, you know, with me and gals, they were already buying a hundred unit apartment building, they were buying mostly unit apartments.

[00:13:28] Ola Dantis: I was like, oh my goodness. I was covered in dust on a flip this tiny house in Baltimore. And, you know, I lost like a year or two just because of that shiny object syndrome. So for anybody listening to this, make sure when you choose your path, keep going on that path until you succeed. Before you start to consider other paths, make sure you succeed.

[00:13:48] Ola Dantis: Success looks like closing the deal, buying a deal, going through a full circle on that deal before you start jumping, right? I was able to redeem myself, even though I did lose some years by partnering. Another hack, right? This is not buying multifamily, you know, multi-million dollar assets in America or anywhere in the world.

[00:14:11] Ola Dantis: It's not a one-man show, okay? You need a team of partners, attorneys, title folks, brokers, lenders. It's just no child’s play. This is like serious business. Okay. So I had to partner with people that were doing it, right, by helping them on a deal. Then that's how I got into my fourth multifamily deal. 

[00:14:30] Sam Wilson: That's awesome. Choose your path and don't stray from it idea. There's a book I'm reading. I should say, just finished reading, called The 4 Disciplines of Execution. And it is the one thing they say that entrepreneurs, no matter where you are in their journey, that they all have struggled with is focus.

[00:14:50] Sam Wilson: And they said the most successful people focus and they stay and they just stay in their lane and they don't wander out of it. It's something that I'm completely guilty of. And I think a lot of us are where it's like, oh, Hey, but we can do this and we can do that. I heard somebody say it and I don't know where they picked it up, but you know, he who chases two rabbits catches none.

[00:15:09] Sam Wilson: And there comes a time. There comes a time, I think, in our businesses where once the people and the processes and the systems are operating without our input, maybe then, maybe then you could silo and build a different channel of business.

[00:15:21] Sam Wilson: But until that one is functioning, you know, as a machine, without your input, it's probably not time to, to add a second part or a second iteration of your business. So that's really, really cool. What's your business look like today? 

[00:15:34] Ola Dantis: Yes. So we're, we're growing. We've got about 200 units last year. This year, 2022, for, you know, for those who might be listening to this, in the future, we'll look into buying 600 units.

[00:15:45] Ola Dantis: Then we currently have a deal on the contract. I was just telling Sam before you hit record, that's keeping me super busy. You know, the goal here isn't just the senseless accumulation of wealth. I think I like to mention that because I remember listening to podcasts when I was coming up and you get some guests and they're quite repulsive might be a strong word, but, you know, but we, this is not just get money, get money, and get money without really senselessly understanding what you're trying to do.

[00:16:15] Ola Dantis: So for us at Dwellynn, that's really huge for us. We just not trying to just buy stuff and units and assets just for buying's sake. And we've been really strategic and being mindful of our impact on those we'll touch. You know, we touch constantly every day. I got to mention that. 

[00:16:33] Sam Wilson: No, no, absolutely. I'm all for the accumulation of wealth, right? But it needs to be done strategically and for a reason, I mean, otherwise, if you could, I think if you accumulate wealth for wealth's sake, it's pretty empty. So, yes, that's really cool. You guys are working on Dwellynn's 1HousePledge. Can you tell me about that?

[00:16:52] Ola Dantis: Yeah, definitely. That's a fantastic segue. One of the biggest, you know, things that I feel like, you know, got us placed on our hearts here, my wife and I and our team at Dwellynn, is to, you know, donate a house mortgage-free to somewhere in the world. Hopefully we, you know, the first project will be somewhere in America. Of course, people go, oh my goodness. You know, how the heck do you do that?

[00:17:15] Ola Dantis: That's why it's a pledge. We don't know exactly how yet, but we're traveling to make sure that we can do that, mindfully, of course, again. This is not going to be a $1 million mansion somewhere in Calabasas and California, obviously, but that's kind of something that we're trying to achieve.

[00:17:32] Sam Wilson: That's really, really cool. I look forward, look forward to following you on that. Tell us about, I mean, multifamily, you know, we have this discussion a lot. It's a tough time right now to find opportunities that pencil. And if you guys are looking to buy 600 units, what do you feel like your strategy is that gives you an edge over everybody else that's out there buying right now?

[00:17:52] Ola Dantis: Just being conservative a hundred percent. That's not a massive competitive edge. You know, for any of those who are in multifamily, well, that's kind of the number one thing because of the current climate, cap rate compressing, NOI growth is being challenged, specifically with the inflation.

[00:18:14] Ola Dantis: In our economy right now, the gas prices kind of really, I'm hurting the purses of those visitors of our tenants, right? So really being aware of what's going on in the market. So I think another way that we've been different is really working our relationships in the market. Getting super, super focused with our brokers, with exactly what we're looking for, the kind of returns that the equity that we're deploying is looking for, trying to get the off off, off, off, off markets from a seller that is not just trying to squeeze a deal. I read a book, one of the richest, you know, billionaires, Jorge Perez, real estate developer in Miami. And he started with nothing too, and I need to said something it's like, in the deal, he leaves money on the table, right? He leaves money on the table. Now for anybody who has been in business, you know, Sam, you know, myself, at first thought you're like, what the heck does that mean? Like, why would you do that? Sounds stupid. But, what he was basically saying is you leave money on the table because you're not trying to squeeze a deal just to squeeze a deal's sake, right?

[00:19:24] Ola Dantis: Because when you do that, it's karma, I believe in this stuff, right? Because when you try to squeeze a deal as a seller, trying to sell a deal and squeeze everything, you might end up buying a deal that is not good for your investors, too. So that's kind of our philosophy. We're not trying to squeeze every deal as a seller and as a buyer.

[00:19:43] Sam Wilson: I love it. I love it. That kind of goes back to the don't get rich for rich's sake philosophy. It's like, Hey, we're, you know, and all that kind of ties into an ethos that goes, okay, we're not squeezing deals.

[00:19:54] Sam Wilson: We're not squeezing sellers. We're not squeezing as a buyer. It is placing tenants, not squeezing tenants. It is, but you still being focused or profit-minded. I mean, you have to be.

[00:20:03] Ola Dantis: Yeah, yeah. Extremely profit-minded, I can guarantee you that. 

[00:20:06] Sam Wilson: Right. Right. Yeah. There is certainly a unique, a unique balance there. Ola, I've loved learning about what it is that you're doing, where you come from, the story of, you know, coming to the United States with 180 bucks in your pocket. I think that's a story that for those of us that grew up here and just watching the economic-political landscape, the regulatory landscape, for us it's, it's really disheartening. It's like, oh my gosh, this is not working out well. And then the rest of the world comes over and is like, Hey, you have no idea what it is. 

[00:20:38] Ola Dantis: Yeah, there's like gold on the streets.

[00:20:40] Sam Wilson: On the streets. Right. And so, so yeah, that's a, it's always refreshing to hear that the American dream is still alive. Can still be carried out by people coming over and making it happen.

[00:20:53] Sam Wilson: So thanks for sharing all your story with us today. How you guys are finding deals, discomfort, your advice on choosing paths, finding a mentor. Yeah, just staying focused. So yeah, certainly love it. If our listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that?

[00:21:07] Ola Dantis: Yeah. Thank you so much, Sam. If you're watching this on YouTube, it's right there. Should I say, investwithola.com. That's investwithola, O-L-A, .com. That will redirect you to the Dwellynn website and yeah, if you're also on Instagram, as much as I feel like I am lately, you know, hit me up on Instagram, Ola Dantis. There's just one of me. You can never miss me or wherever else you are online. I'm pretty ubiquitous online. So yeah, you can find me anywhere. 

[00:21:33] Sam Wilson: Awesome. Yeah, we'll make sure we include all that information there in the show notes. Ola, thanks again for your time today. I certainly appreciate it. 

[00:21:40] Ola Dantis: Appreciate it. Thanks so much, Sam.