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: vinney@moneilig.com

Vinney’s course on syndication: realestateu.tv