DC's real estate investor community

There is a real hunger for real estate knowledge in DC that is only growing as professionals gather more information on how to invest in real. Yesterday evening I attended the 'Real Estate Happy Hour & Meetup' organized by MJ Sheckles, www.dhirubhai.net/in/megan-mj-sheckles-shrm-cp-7670496 at #TheGatheringSpot , the DC outpost of the Atlanta private membership club, www.dhirubhai.net/company/the-gathering-spot. The event featured the 'Commercial Real Estate Development 101 Panel' with a lineup of Washington DC's top African-American real estate professionals. My personal highlights were ex-NBA star Christopher Monroe of Burse Management, /www.dhirubhai.net/in/christopher-monroe-76601a49, who discussed his role as a general partner in real estate syndication and Natasha Thompson, Director of Single Family Home Development at the Mentiki Group, www.dhirubhai.net/company/menkiti-group, who proudly discussed the development company's work east of the Anacostia River in Ward 8, to far out as Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The audience included some real estate power players such as Tony Taylor from Taylor-Made Real Estate Partners, www.dhirubhai.net/in/urbanlifeexpert and Nancy Alert from Remax National Harbor, www.dhirubhai.net/in/nancyalert, who was my invited guest. The panel was followed by break-out sessions where we did some deep dives into the speaker's expertise. I went to the session on syndication with Chris then went to listen to Natasha who talked about the fund that the #MentikiGroup has for developers. There was a lot of socializing afterwards but 'The Gathering Spot DC' closes promptly at 11pm so we all headed over to #SwahiliVillage .

A couple of weeks ago I hosted my first #WashingtonDC real estate investors @Meetup at Hotel Zena. My #Meetup group, www.meetup.com/meetup-group-puzcohnx, is new and I organized my event a week before but I still had a dozen serious real estate investors show up who made meaningful connections, as well as professionals like Sandy Spring Bank mortgage sales manager, Rod Moody, www.dhirubhai.net/in/rod-moody-a98a5459. The prevailing interest in people who showed up is that they are looking for other real estate investors to invest with and learn from. My new colleague, Lee Spurlock from Remax, www.dhirubhai.net/in/lee-spurlock-52158877, joined us. I met other agents like Patrick Fogarty, www.dhirubhai.net/in/patrick-fogarty-6645a311, who are interested in collaborating and also helping to organize other Meetups. The Meetup group is growing and we are looking forward to organizing the first Meetup of 2023 in January.

They say that a new real estate agent changes brokerages an average of 5 times before they find the right fit. I got my license in February of this year and I have been trying to find my feet. They say that 90% of new real estate agents fail but I refuse to be part of that statistic. I have followed up with everyone who got their licenses at the same time as me and they have all put their licenses on inactive status. When I started I didn't get much support getting business from my residential broker and was advised to try commercial. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn commercial real estate @LongandFoster but the industry is suffering post-pandemic with remote work reducing office demand with a knock-on effect of reduced retail demand in the #DistrictOfColumbia . I kept finding brokerages which are based in Virginia and I had to commute there by Metro, since I don't have a car so I was looking for a brokerage in #DowntonDC . It took a couple of attempts but now I have joined Lee Spurlock's team @Remax. It gives me the best of both worlds in that I can utilize both my commercial and residential real estate skills. The DC #Remax office is a satellite office of the Bethesda franchise under broker Mark Butterfield, www.dhirubhai.net/in/mark-butterfield-4b78524. On Friday we had a training with Mark and Sherry Rahnama, www.dhirubhai.net/in/sherryrahnama, who runs some Virginia offices, at the Tower Club in Tyson's Corner, www.invitedclubs.com/clubs/tower-club-tysons-corner. I explained to Mark that under normal circumstances, it is not easy to be successful as a new real estate agent but with rising interest rates and a slowing housing market, I am going to need a lot of help to make it as a realtor. I need leads and I am a great believer in technology. Remax currently uses Booj, www.dhirubhai.net/company/booj and they will migrating to another system in coming months. I am in a hurry to make my 3 real estate licenses start paying otherwise it is just an expensive hobby because I have to pay the brokerage each month I work under them. This holiday I am working hard on my other hustles to make ends meet. I have become the celebrity notary notarizing documents for CEOs, celebrities, corporate boards and the go-to notary for a number of busy professionals downtown. Hopefully I will get to the point where I can focus on real estate and cut back on my extra-curricular activities but the notary business will definitely stay.