From Cerebral Palsy to Multifamily Mogul: Overcoming Challenges, Finding Success, and the Power of Mentorship
By Jason Malabute, CPA and full-time real estate investor
Growing up with Cerebral Palsy has robbed me of many experiences that most “normal” people take for granted, such as prom, taking out that girl you liked from math class to the movies, going to the mall with your friends after school, doming in college, or driving. But for everything that it took from me, it blessed me with something even greater. It gave me a chip on my shoulder and a flame that will never go out to prove every single one of my doubters wrong. My determination, born from my struggles, has made it possible for me to experience levels of success that most people will never experience in their lives.
Success starts with mindset. It took me three years to close on my first multifamily deal. I underwrote over 300 deals before I found success. Several of my previous teams fell apart because our vision and values were not aligned. I worked every day from December 2021 to September 1st, 2023. I worked every day, including holidays, birthdays, days I was discouraged, sad, did not “feel like it,” when I could hardly get out of bed because I had COVID, and when I sprained my foot at the gym. During the holidays, when my family asked if I had a deal yet, and I had to tell them I was still looking year after year, although my ego was bruised, I did not quit. I was obsessed with closing my first deal and achieving success. I quit my stable job and sold all my single-family homes in 2021. People around me doubted my actions, but I was determined to follow my dreams and prove everyone wrong. That mindset started well before I got into real estate. When I was in high school, I was obsessed with basketball. I would watch Kobe Bryant on TV, and I would try to mimic his moves for at least eight hours the next day in my backyard. At that time, I was convinced in my head that if I worked hard enough, I would be the first professional basketball player with a disability in the NBA. Looking back, I was a pretty terrible basketball player, but it was the same determination (and partly delusion) that kept me pushing for three years in the hunt for my first multifamily deal.
The biggest hack that led to growing my portfolio to 342 units in 2023 is joining the right mentorship program. It was important that I learned from a mentor who was active in today’s market. First, my mentor was able to connect me with his network. His network included brokers, lenders, contractors, insurance brokers, and property managers that could help me today. The benefit of joining a mentorship program is buying yourself into a network that normally would have taken you years to build yourself. Also, I was able to cut my learning curve significantly because I could shadow my mentor who was buying and selling properties in the current market while having the ability to ask questions. I was also able to avoid major mistakes like buying a bad deal or overpaying because my mentor is an expert underwriter. So, I learned how to underwrite deals conservatively while still being competitive. I learned that many investors say they are conservative but really are not. My mentor taught me how to underwrite for 6-8 months of operating reserves, not be too aggressive with the rent growths or rent projections, and to be conservative with the terminal cap rate so I can protect my investors and my reputation as an investor even if the market environment changes.
I believe that many students make the mistake of hiring a mentor who has not purchased a multifamily deal since the Great Recession. I find that although their approach is very conservative, it will not make you competitive in the current market where competition is fiercer. Moreover, I learned how to analyze markets that you are planning to invest in on a deep level. It is not enough to just analyze population growth and job growth when considering investing in a market. You should also look at economic diversity. You do not want to invest in a market that is dominated by one industry. Additionally, my mentorship program taught me how to estimate future population growth by looking at current job growth since population growth is driven by job growth. It is also important to note that my mentorship program taught me to look at the “shift share analysis,” which is when you look at how previous downturns affected the local job market so you can project how your market will react to recessions in the future.
Another big mistake that I see from people who are trying to get started in the industry is that they want to be the star too soon or want to get paid right away for everything that they do. This “take! take! take!” attitude rubs established operators the wrong way and is the reason they are reluctant to let a newer investor join their team. This is a violation of the first law of Robert Greene’s book “The 48 Laws of Power” that states to “never outshine your master.” I applied this lesson by telling my mentor that I am willing to work for free. For example, I noticed that my mentor is terribly busy and sometimes the monthly investor reports took the back seat. So, with my CPA background, I took over our group’s monthly financial reports. I am happy to say that the monthly reports are now completed on a timely basis every month. Additionally, I helped with the capital raise. I volunteered to take responsibility for calling retail investors and was able to raise money from that campaign. Moreover, I was helping host and promote webinars that gave more exposure to our group. I volunteered to help with asset management on multiple properties. I joined the partners at networking events to promote our group even more. I even got new students to join the mentorship program. Most importantly, I never took credit for anything. Every time I was on a podcast being interviewed or meeting somebody new, I gave all the credit to our team and my mentor. I was always aware of where I fell in our team’s hierarchy. I made it a point to add as much value to our team as possible and to make our lead managing partner’s job as easy as possible. I am so thankful that my mentor recognized and appreciated my hard work by making me a general partner on a 236-unit property that our group closed on earlier this year. It is crazy to think that after 3 years of no success, I was able to go from 0 units in January to 342 units (106 + 236) in December in my personal portfolio. This is all because I did not give up, was willing to invest in myself, and was not short-sighted in my approach.
By being willing to give value to others, instead of solely focusing on my own self-interest, I was able to work with an experienced team and gain valuable experience, significantly improving my capital-raising skills. Unlike what they teach you in books, capital raising takes a lot of persistence, creativity, and thick skin. I am thankful to possess all three. I am also grateful for all the lessons I have learned about asset management. I learned that good asset management is truly a team sport that requires good and regular communication between the property manager and your team’s asset manager to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Real-life experience has also taught me how to work effectively with brokers. I learned that if you are way off from the pricing guidance, it is sometimes better not to tell the broker where you are at on pricing unless the broker really pushes for it to avoid creating a negative reputation as a “low baller.” I learned all these things by working closely with my mentor.
It’s funny to see those who didn’t invest in themselves because they wanted to save their capital for their first deal being in the same position that they were in 3 years ago (still deal-less), while others have given up and dropped out of the industry completely. I am a firm believer that the universe (or God) punishes those who lack an abundance mindset and refuse to invest in themselves.
In closing, I want to re-emphasize that on top of having a great mentor, what pushed me towards success is always remembering my “why.” When I wake up at 4 in the morning and doubt if I made the right decisions in life, I think about my why, and it keeps me going. I want to prove to every single person who ever snubbed their nose at me because I might walk with a limp and talk with a speech impediment that they were dead wrong about ever overlooking me. I never want to be mediocre and give them the excuse to think that they were right about me just being “another boy with a handicap.” I want everyone who ever said I was “wasting their time” to regret those words that ever came out of their mouths. I never want to fail my parents who fought for me to be in normal classes when some of the school faculty wanted to keep me in special education classes because they did not think I could keep up with the normal kids. I want to make my parents proud because they are the ones who taught me to stand up for myself. I refuse to fail my family that really pushed me to be better than what society expected of me. I refuse to fail my friends who always encouraged me when I felt down because things were not going my way. I never want to fail my team who gave me an opportunity when no one else would. I don’t want to fail God who blessed me with determination and opportunities. I don’t want to fail the everyday American because this would not have been possible in any other country. Most importantly, I never want to fail my 5-year-old self who went everywhere with a blue helmet and a walker. I want to tell him to pay the doubters no mind and that he will be someone when he grows up (as long as he continues to put in the work). I am excited for the future now that I have gotten the monkey off my back of closing on my first multifamily deal earlier this year. I am partly relieved, but the ambition to do even more to prove more people wrong is even stronger.
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