097: Flipping More Than 30 Houses Per Year with Abhi Golhar

On this episode of the InvestFourMore Real Estate Podcast, I have a great conversation with Abhi Golhar. Abhi has become a fantastic investor who flips more than 30 houses per year, but this number did not come easily. It took him years of mentorship, moving around the country, and near successes before he made it. Abhi found success not from finding the right strategy but from finding the right attitude. He started investing in 2002, but he did not realize true success until almost ten years later.  During that decade of trying, he never gave up.

How did Abhi get started investing in real estate?

Abhi attended the University of Michigan where he pursued a degree in electrical engineering. He was a decent student but always wanted to be an entrepreneur. In high school, he started a computer repair business, which he loved. In college, it did not take him long to discover real estate after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. Shortly after entering the world of real estate, he met a couple of real estate investors from Detroit. When he was 18, he started investing in notes and bought a flip and a rental. His investing did not go as planned. He made no money on his flips and barely broke even on a rental property after experiencing a water disaster. He escaped his first venture into real estate without losing any money, but he gained a lot of knowledge.

After college, Abhi moved to Nebraska to chase a girl. At a real estate investor networking event in Nebraska, he met one of his mentors. Afterword, Abhi learned about wholesaling.  He also learned that rejection is good. The more you’re rejected, the better the chance the next person will say yes! Abhi started knocking on doors to find motivated sellers. He was making money by wholesaling a few houses and finding deals for his mentor.

Yet Abhi was not yet setting the real estate world on fire, so he moved to Missouri to learn from another mentor. It was now 2007, and he lived with an investor who was developing land. Abhi was making a little money wholesaling, and he was selling cars on eBay to make ends meet. Eventually, he moved to Atlanta to follow another mentor he had met.

How did Abhi turn the corner in his real estate investing career?

When Abhi moved to Atlanta, it was right before the real estate crash. You would think it was a horrible time to invest in real estate, but he made it work. He realized that he had to change his attitude by taking responsibility for his actions and life. He started his own company and learned how to sell houses to large corporate buyers. He took the time to plan his business and not just work inside of it. Over the next few years, he built his business up to where he was doing more than 30 flips per year, in addition to buying rentals and even building new houses.

How does Abhi view the current market and make money within it?

Abhi works within a hot market in Atlanta. Just a few years ago, he was buying tear-down properties within the city for $85,000. Those same properties are now selling for $160,000! In this podcast, he talks about how he likes to make money by following the path of growth and unique deals. In one case, he bought a lot of land that sat above three sewer lines.  No one else wanted to deal with the hassle, but he took it on and will make a ton of money on the deal.

Just like me, one of his biggest challenges is dealing with contractors. He is constantly looking for new crews and working to keep his current crews on track.

What advice does Abhi have for real estate investors?

Abhi has some great advice for real estate investors. He thinks the first thing any investor should do is get to know themselves. Figure out what you like to do and cater your investing around those skills. Build a strategy based on your strengths—not what others thing you should do. He also believes that knowing the market is one of the most important things any investor can do. The better you know your market, the more money you will make.

Abhi also has his own podcast and radio show, which you can find at Realestatedealtalk.com.