MB 051: From $7 In His Pocket to 1400 Units (with Vinney “Smile” Chopra)

Vinney “Smile” Chopra shares his amazing journey from arriving to this country from India with $7 in his pocket to building a $70M multifamily real estate empire.  In this episode, we focus in particular on how he started his multifamily investing career and how he eventually raised $1.1M to do his first two deals. After having graduated from George Washington University, Vinney became a mechanical engineer. He was fascinated by sales and marketing and sold encyclopedias and bibles door-to-door. For several decades, he was a professional fundraiser for non-profit organizations. He started investing in single family houses in the mid-eighties, but in 2007 he became passionate about multifamily investing. Since then, he’s done $125M worth of real estate transactions and currently controls over 1,400 units. Vinney’s middle name is “Smile” because that what he did a lot during our interview. Here are the topics we cover on the podcast: Why he decided to get started with real estate. Too much work! Couldn’t really scale. His first venture into MF: hard!, it took 12 months. It seemed impossible. He ended up closing a 14-unit and then a 109 unit just several weeks afterward, raised $1.1M. Key Takeaways: [7:30] Vinney’s start in real estate investing Started with single family housing Planned on selling the homes to fund retirement [12:47] Vinny’s preferred method of learning Youtube Google Podcasts (12-15 per week) [13:31] Why positive thinking is so important if you want to achieve your goals [18:13] Why Vinney decided to stop investing in single family housing Minimal economies of scale Risk of 100% vacancy After the crash of 2007 lenders would only loan on multifamily housing [20:33] Why Vinney recommends finding a partner Encouragement through the tough times  [26:17] Why you should talk to a syndication attorney before raising money Vinney’s syndication attorney: Kim Taylor [28:00] Vinney’s very first deal 14 unites Closed on 109 units soon after [32:14] How Vinney raised money for his first deal Hustled! Decided not to accept money from friends or relatives Designed a great presentation [38:55] How one happy investor can lead to 30 more   Connect with Vinney Phone: 925-766-3518 (call or text) Email: [email protected] Vinney’s course on syndication: realestateu.tv