Hey, welcome back to Vision Pros Live. I've got
Fiquan Bilal today, and I'm really excited to
hear all about your vision. Fiquan, why don't
you go ahead and talk about that, introduce yourself
a little bit, and then we'll get rolling. Thank
you. I really appreciate you having me on the
show, Sue. So, vision. For me, it's growing up
from where I came from in a low -income community.
You know, when I got into real estate, it gave
me the feel of importance because I was able
to uh handle the blighted property issues some
well not all of them some of them right that
we had in the community whether they were dilapidated
properties from burnouts or just vacants and
it was a really good feeling and and to this
day it gives me my fill of importance to be able
to go back to those communities revitalize the
properties put them back on a tax roll give a
residence a better place to live and the vision
is which we call you know our b hag our big hairy
audacious goal is to Provide housing, meaning
rentals, affordable housing for 5 ,000 residents.
And that can take 10, 15 years to get done. But
that's the ultimate to be able to provide housing
for 5 ,000 families, quality, affordable housing.
Because it's not really much value being added
unless there's new construction and they have
to put 15 % because of the law, low income people
mixed with the property. That's the only way
that those type of the people that live in those
communities will see something brand new. Most
of it is old property. So we what we do is we
go in and make them beautiful and just transition
complex to community. That's really cool. And
that can make such a huge difference, like the
ripple effect of what that does in a community.
Like, tell me about that. Yeah. So complex to
community is. um is actually i was at a conference
and there were a lot of other real estate business
owners and it was a young lady that was talking
about you know their models is they go they buy
a property that's underperforming they renovate
it you know and better curb appeal they could
generate rents and make more profits and there
was another person that was saying well what
happens to the people that live there right does
the mindset of the people change right if you're
dealing with like low -income affordable housing
type of a client so um you know during that conversation
it kind of dawned on me complex to community
because not only the mission is to make the place
a better place to live but also to try to shift
the mindset and the people what i mean what do
i mean by that there are several non -profit
agencies that will come to the function room
at your property and teach people how to do resumes
um you can do zumba classes on saturdays for
the seniors you can do so many different things
where um it doesn't cost the property owner much
money it's just called collaboration with different
vendors um you can do back to school programs
give out book bags and a whole bunch of stuff
so um that helps show that give value and that
changes the mindset in those communities and
that's really how you go from complex to community
and also there's programs where they teach people
how to get home ownership on their own their
own Right. For those little micro homes they're
doing now. There's a lot of government assistant
programs that you can make the residents aware
of so they can transition from the rental into
possibly their own home. What is have some type
of financial literacy understanding. So that's
incredible. I mean, and having that all where
somebody lives. So it's very convenient for them.
Have you been doing like how long has this been
going on that you've been involved and what kind
of results have you seen in? the complexes you've
built yes i've been in real estate for about
26 years and i transitioned to the bigger multi
-families like right after covet we were doing
a lot of rentals here in new jersey smaller two
family four family six families i think the biggest
one i owned was a 12 unit and then after covet
you know we had a lot of new yorkers coming over
to i'm in north jersey so we had a lot of new
yorkers moving over values went crazy so we started
to divest that portfolio then we kind of took
the war chest and went to the southeast where
we can actually create a bigger impact and our
target is buying 40 unit buildings to maximum
140 unit buildings somewhere around 70s 80s build
um so we started at the covet um the whole uh
shift on the business model as far as complex
the community was something that we've just implemented
a little less than a year ago so after we went
through the process of buying buildings and working
through the processes and gearing them up for
you to refinance or exit you know going to these
different functions was where that finally hit
me so we are seeing positive results from that
if you have again there are vendors that are
non -profit that you can partner with so it doesn't
cost you as an operator money you just have to
have your facility open and available for them
and then the marketing right and it's a slow
process right because it's different it's new
once people hear it's free then they'll start
getting involved so those things are um you know
they give good results uh at first again the
challenge we have with low attendance uh but
we just had to keep like anything marketing marketing
marketing showing the value then you get cheerleaders
people start to talk and then you see it grow
from there well that's great it's amazing how
you still have to market things that are free
right So what got you into this, you know, from
the start? This is a this is really ambitious
and cool project. Well, yeah, I mean, what got
me started in real estate was the ability to
be free. Right. So when you think of freedom,
we have our careers. We go to school, whether
it's a doctor, lawyer, dentist, whatever you
are, you know, you are passionate about that.
So you're going to do that. But as the years
go by, you want to really see what other things
you can do besides traditional investments. Like
with the regular person who have a job, I'm going
to put money in my 401k. I'm going to buy a bond
or I'm going to do this and that. I'm going to
earn 4%, 6 % or whatever it is on the stocks.
And they never really look at alternative assets.
So my mind shifted over 26 years ago where I
took the leap of faith and got started in the
business. And it's been a journey. the global
financial crisis of 08 the dot -com bus 2000
in the early 2000s um actually that was before
2000 and then uh covet right so there's been
different peaks and valleys along the journey
but again it's if you're passionate about something
you will figure out a way on how to get it done
and then what's your the profile of your ideal
investor So these are busy professionals, maybe
business owners that have 20 plus employees.
They have a net worth of a million dollars, not
including their primary residence. They earn
at least a couple hundred thousand dollars a
year or more. So that's that's the avatar. That
could be a dentist, a doctor, a lawyer, a busy
professional, an I .T. person, just people who
are working a typical nine to five or running
a business. and don't have uh the resources or
the knowledge on how to invest in alternative
assets so it's an education process you know
we provide the education uh we actually show
people what we do how we underwrite deals and
we give them the ability to partner with us that's
great so they might be you know actively searching
for some passive income streams you know that
not going to require you said they're busy so
of course not requiring their sweat equity in
this they just want to be able to park some money
someplace and have it grow is that right correct
correct and finding a sponsor that is market
cycle tested finding a sponsor that's going to
communicate well good bad or ugly because it's
never a perfect journey right we we watch the
stock market go up and down all day you know
gains and losses but finding the sponsor for
alternative assets that you have direct access
to That will be able to communicate with you,
give you frequent updates, answer the phone when
you call, you know, and who has that experience.
That's their only job in learning how to do due
diligence on that particular asset. Once they
overcome, you know, that, then, you know, pretty
much is whenever they're ready. Oh, that's great.
And it seems like probably these investors would
also have a mind towards, you know, community
building, you know, community improvement. For
sure. yeah we like to align ourselves with that
investors that sort of vibrate to the same frequency
right so some and there's nothing wrong with
this some investors like to chase yields they
want to get the thing that's paying the highest
return or eight percent or ten percent um and
some investors will say you know preservation
of capital i don't want to lose principles so
preservation of capital is important i want to
make a return um and i want to create an impact
over i want my my dollars to do good so Those
are the investors that we try to resonate with,
you know, collaborate with and team up with the
people who really want to make an impact. They're
on that part of their journey now where they
have enough money from working or whatever, their
business. Now they want to make an impact and
change. Oh, that's great. This is a good way
to do it. Tell me a little bit about what's your
vision for your company like on the longer term?
Yeah, I mean, it's really to provide quality,
affordable housing, period. I mean, that's just
to sum it up, quality, affordable housing. As
you know, it seems like we're moving to a European
model where we're going to become a renter's
nation because the pricing of housing is insane.
Right. And what we were able to afford years
ago, you know, our kids or their kids in the
direction it's going, it's going to be not affordable.
So everyone is going to be. riding around on
bicycles and renting apartments you know we're
shifting to a european model so my vision is
to be one of those operators that can continue
to supply the market with affordable quality
housing so i come from that there's a need for
that there's good people in those areas that
just can't afford a rent bump or can't afford
to get the subsidy they need in order to you
know have good housing so that's the vision quality
affordable housing That's great. Do you have
plans to expand outside of New Jersey? I mean,
there's plenty of housing there that needs your
help. Yeah, right now we're actually in three
states. And in the southeast, which is Georgia
and Alabama, is now where we do our ring tool.
Our multifamily is there, anywhere from 40 units
to 150 units. And that's where we do our impact
project. Here in New Jersey, We do luxury spec
homes. We build new luxury homes from the ground.
The market in North Jersey is still good. The
average house we sell can be anywhere from $1
.5 million to $2 .5 million sales price. So that's
what we do here in New Jersey. Those are short
-term deals where you buy, fix, and sell. And
in the Southeast, our rental portfolio is more
long -term. because it takes five or seven years
to truly stabilize and see the value out of the
property. And then you can exit through a sell
or refinance and hold on to it. So that's a longer
term investment. But those are the two verticals
that we do in the business, rentals and buy,
fix and sell. That's great. So are you back and
forth? I don't know how much boots on the ground
you have to have doing this. I'm sure you're
traveling quite a bit. I'm an active operator.
You have some guys that are just looking at spreadsheets
and, you know, underwriting deals from their
computer and never make it to the property. I
like to kick the tires. There's an old saying
of football coach Jimmy Johnson used to walk
the field before the game. That's the type of
person I am. I like to go kick the tires, be
involved with the underwriting process. I am
down there twice a quarter checking this stuff.
Sometimes it's planned visits. Sometimes it's
unplanned, meaning I pop up on them without them
knowing. And, you know, I love it. My heart is
still on fire for the business after 26 years.
That's really saying something. Did it surprise
you that, you know, 26 years later, you're still
going for this? No, I was just telling my sons
the other day, I was saying, because we were
talking about legacy and everything else. And
I was telling them, hey, legacy is what you leave
in somebody, not what you leave for them. And
I believe the highest value besides teaching
you things like having good morals, being responsible,
being honest, trustworthy, communicative, besides
the parent things, as far as business wise, I
was telling them, hey, I think this is the highest
value that I can transfer to you guys is the
knowledge that I have in this business. And it's
almost like every business owner that I hear
that the city have a chiropractor set up. Right.
And. They know that that's a good business for
them to make money because they're doing it as
their career. They have children. And most people
assume the children is going to assume the business,
take over because they already built the foundation
for it. It's easier to pass the baton. You see
that in dentistry a lot too. And most businesses
that mom and pop own is transition to the kids,
get the kids involved at a young age. But then
you see the other side of that where the kids
don't want to be involved with that business
at all. They want to go a whole different route.
which is nothing wrong with that either. But
the point I'm making is that I always share with
my kids that that's the highest value business
-wise I think I can transfer to them is because
the time that I've been doing it, the things
that I've learned, that will kind of give them
the cheat code, if you will, to get done. That's
cool. Are they old enough to appreciate what
that means? Oh, for sure. For sure. That's great.
That's so cool. That's really neat. Well, fantastic.
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy
that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking
forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes
continue to move forward. This is going to get
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out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.