With the wealth of resources available online, anybody can teach themselves about investing, but some knowledge can only be gained through experience. Here to talk about his investment journey and the lessons he has learned along the way is data-driven investor, mindset coach, and realtor Ali Mahdavi! Being an immigrant born in Iran, Ali quickly learned to adapt, which has allowed him to successfully grow personally and financially. We hear from Ali about his college education in the U.S and how he only learned about investing after graduating. By devouring podcasts, books, and videos, Ali taught himself what he could, and he solidified his knowledge through networking and taking action on what he learned. Ali talks about his first real estate investment, a condo in LA, and what he learned about investing in appreciating but negative cash flow assets from it. From there, we get into some of Ali’s investing tips, and he weighs in on diversification, how to underwrite deals and syndications, how to manage properties in far off locations, and what he plans to invest in going forward. We wrap up for the day with our final four questions for Ali, hearing him talk about the value of conservative financial underwriting, learning by teaching, and why his phone is his greatest tool! Don’t miss out on today’s awesome conversation about investing with Ali!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Ali’s childhood in Iran and how he learned about investing after moving to the U.S.
- Getting into real estate by purchasing a condo; negative cash flow on an appreciating asset.
- Investing in an appreciation market with negative cash flow versus investing in cash flow assets.
- How Ali educates himself about money and verifies information by consulting multiple sources.
- Diversification and conservative financials; lessons learned about investing.
- Mindset-related investing hurdles Ali has overcome: leveraging staff, technology, and personal action.
- Tips for how to underwrite and manage properties that are in far off locations.
- Syndications and single-family homes Ali is invested in, and his investing plans going forward.
- Markets, GPs, and the asset class – things Ali assesses before investing in syndications.
- What Ali would tell his former self about investing if he could rewind time.
- Lalita’s final four questions with Ali: his best tool, biggest mistake, growth strategy, and more.
- Where people can find Ali online and learn more about what he does.
Tweetables:
“I like the cash flow market far more than the West Coast appreciating market.” — Ali Mahdavi [0:07:06]
“One of the things I love is diversification. Not only just investing in a condo or in one market, but maybe extending it a little bit more.” — Ali Mahdavi [0:09:02]
“The general partners are, for me, the most important thing.” — Ali Mahdavi [0:16:15]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
