HEATHER EWING: The CRE RUNdown

Ep. 24 Pursuit of Excellence: Doctor + Real Estate Investor

• Heather Ewing, CCIM / Harry Nima Zegarra, MD • Season 1 • Episode 24

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Discover the secret to balancing a high-stakes medical career with a flourishing real estate investment portfolio as Harry Nima Zegarra, a pulmonary critical care doctor, shares his step-by-step journey into the world of property syndication alongside his wife, a family medicine practitioner. 

Harry has harnessed the power of mentorship, masterminds, and a steadfast 'why' to succeed in both his professional life and his personal passion for real estate, all while maintaining the endurance to run marathons.

Harry shares his partnering with seasoned operators in favorable markets and his pivot towards investing in more stable, high-grade properties amidst a shifting economic landscape. His tale of a pivotal management company switch serves as a testament to the critical influence of adept property management.

Intrigued by Harry's dual life as a doctor and real estate investor? Learn more about NEMA Equity and the lifestyle philosophy of pursuing one's passions with loved ones. Join us for this episode that seamlessly stitches the fabric of professional rigor with the threads of entrepreneurial ventures and personal fulfillment.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Thank you for joining me. This is Heather Ewing, the CRE rundown, and today I have a delightful guest. It's Harry Nima-Sagara. Very welcome.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Hey Heather, Thank you so much for having me on your show. I appreciate it.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Certainly, it's my pleasure. So we connected through LinkedIn. There's a robust group of us on LinkedIn different investors, brokerage, different facets. Can you share with the audience a little bit more about you so they can get to know you better?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, absolutely. My wife and I were actually both from South America, from Peru. We both are physicians. We came here to the US about 15 years ago. As many people in medicine know, we had been in different places because we needed to move every two or three years because of our training. So we have been all over the US, like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, and now we're in Dallas, Texas. I'm a pulmonary critical care doctor, I'm a full-time physician still and my wife is a family medicine doctor.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Very good. Well, the fun thing there as well is I have family in Pennsylvania, so we took many trips there over the year. Now tell me so you're a doctor. You've been doing that A ton of hours, a lot of stress, right?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, it's a good job like and to enjoy doing that, but also it demands a lot of you right, like physical and mental.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Definitely so. Now, how did you get into investing Right A lot of?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

people would.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

I'm busy I don't have time to add anything on, but obviously you did and you're hitting out of the park. So what are? A couple of tips for people.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

So again, as you're asking, we were very motivated in real estate already. We were very interested. We have some background from our families investing in real estate and different ventures in our home country. So when we came here we were prime for that. It's just like we needed education and also because we were moving every two, three years, it was kind of difficult to get started. But once we came to Dallas we got settled, we started investing in single-family homes in residential real estate and after a couple of years we decided to jump into commercial real estate and syndications apartment complexes specifically.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

That's perfect. So what would you say were one or two tools, resources, like did you find a mentor? Was there a class? What helped you to bridge that gap? And one switch into the commercial arena as well.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, well, like in these times, now it's so easier than before to find good sources of information, good teaching, good information out there, and there is fortunately also a lot of things available for someone who wants to get started in real estate. There's meetups, online courses, also webinars. We actually also got into a mentorship or mastermind group initially because of our time it was kind of difficult to get started and also I was still a full-time doctor and I would say for someone who does or manages an apartment complex, it's more than a full-time job. So you need to partner up with other people, you need to form groups and do this professionally. Like in an Iver, in a syndication group, you need third-party PM company to help you out with the management of the property. So we were able to leverage that group in order to find good partners, also mentors, in that group to help us to fasten our education.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Which really helps people to fast track, as in your example, because otherwise that learning curve one can be very painful, very tedious and the mistakes that you could make without the right mentor really cost you. And you know that's not a pun, so I think that's terrific. And between the two, which keep you busy, how do you find that mindset factors in? What's your trick of the trade with this?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, I mean like, yeah, and you're correct. I mean like things sometimes get busy, right Like. I mean like I'm a full-time physician, I also invest in real estate like the residential part and commercial part still, and I also run. I mean, I also like to run and we run Marathons too. It's more about like, again, like the mindset part, right, like, again like, how, like, like.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

The first question is always to find your why and why you do these things, right, like, and you go back and you start thinking about your family, your kids and your friends, the people who actually are important to you in your life. And the second thing is about like to think about the future, right, like, again like, and some people make the mistake again like. I have like a good job, a good income in this moment, but maybe just one source of income, which at the end, it may be actually more dangerous. Like again, like, like, like not having like a good income, right, like. So that's why, when we decide to diversify and to again like to get all those streams of income, like to help out, like with our income as professionals, right, like, and at some point that helps you a lot, right Again, like with the mindset and again like to know that you have options right Like so. That's very important.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Definitely, and it's my understanding you have a Marathon at the end of this month right In Texas.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yeah, yeah, that's correct, that's correct. Yeah, so we I mean I mean we love running like and again like, we have been doing that like for quite some time already. We left that for a couple of years when, when we had like our kids, right Like so we have to right now, eight and 12. But after we got into real estate again, like you know, like like, there's so different things that you gain from being like in real estate as part of also being like an entrepreneur and also like to have a whole kind of growing mindset, right Like so we decided also like to do more exercise, be more active in that. And, yeah, last year we ran two Marathons. This year we're planning for the same, so that's great.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

That's fantastic and that's where I see two Marathon in commercial real estate is one in the same. I apply, you know, both of those vantage points to each other, because it really is the long game and it's creating a plan, a strategy, knowing that you're going to have to adjust, whether it's weather, or maybe you know, you come down with the flu or something of that nature. So it's always having and flowing, absolutely yeah. Final question for you on the Marathons, then is a plant the seed, unless you've already thought of it, the world majors?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Is that one that's on the horizon, yeah, hopefully at some point, right Like. So I mean, like I'm still right now, like in the early phases, right Like I still feel grateful that I'm able like to finish. Like the race itself right and, as you mentioned, it's a preparation, right Like, and it's like a long term goal, right Like, again, it's not like a short race and again, like the first hour it may be more a physical thing, but the second and third hour is more like a mental and mindset thing, right Like. So things change in that part and kind of similar as investments, right Like, again like you invest not to have a quick return investment in six months or a year. You invest for the long term, right Like, and for the years ahead.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

And so, as far as investments are a lot of yours in the Texas area, are they throughout the United States, worldwide? Do you have a preference?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yeah, so because we invest in commercial real estate, we have, I may say, like the luxury that we're able to partner up with professional teams, right, so they're able to leverage professional teams in different cities, in different areas, kind of like different aspects when you do it yourself, right. So because of that, we have investments in different states here in the US, right, Like it needs mainly in apartment complexes and we have one in developments, so like in apartment complexes we have actually in Kansas City, we have in Texas, we have in Arizona, Georgia, Florida and in developments we have in Sixth Falls.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Very nice and do you see yourself down the road extending beyond multifamily, like mixed juice, other asset classes, industrial?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yeah, yeah, so you think you're going to stay with the multifamily.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

So I think it's a matter more of education than, again, not being into these other investments, right Like, I still feel that I need to educate more about those kind of investments so I can first invest myself and then to bring those opportunities to my investors. Right Like, yeah, I mean I have other ideas in mind, like, again, like the mobile parks, ATMs, like storage, things like that. Right Like so, but, again like, I want to make sure that first I understand the vehicles, I understand the projections and then the writing, then I can present that to my investors.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Definitely, which makes sense because at the end of the day it's your word and you build that trust through consecutive deals that have really brought the returns that you had projected, or at least within the range, and that occasionally there are going to be a deal that just suffers for some unknown reason. But I agree, it's creating that pivotal team and having the syndication that really helps in creating strong investments.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Absolutely, yes, absolutely, and there may be internal or external factors. Right, like and again like and sometimes and I say like the same in medicine, sometimes, despite our best efforts or our best intentions, sometimes life happens right, but like the work of the physician and the investor's indicator is like, again like to make the best of it and again like to have a good communication, in this case with families or with investors, and again like to explain to them and find a moment to educate them and how we're trying to fix things and how we're trying to prevent that to happen in the future.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Definitely so. When you are approaching different markets to invest in, do you work with particular brokers or is it all within your syndication team that essentially goes out to the different states and has those relationships?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes. So we again like, as I mentioned, I'm still a full-time physician, so I mean like, unfortunately, I cannot do everything like myself, so I need like to partner up with operators that have like the expertise and are on those markets already and are doing their due diligence right. So because of that, I pick like three, four, five like operators like at most, and I work with them like for a long time, right, and that's my thesis right Like to get to know a couple of operators that I trust and then we trust each other and then we're more than business partners but also friends, right Like people that you enjoy to work with, right Like and again like. But we mostly focus again like in these kind of areas where it's business friendly, like you know, like the authorities help, also like the landlords, and it's like a landlord-friendly state right Like where you see that population like it's moving and also businesses are moving to that area.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Right, and as far as the size, what's your sweet spot?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yeah, we usually try to again to leverage what we call the economies of scale In order to do that. We usually aim for apartment complexes, at least to 70 or 80 units like each of them. Again, we have a wide range of those. We have from 105 units to almost 300 units in our portfolio. Because of that, you're able to get professional management from a property management company and actually they're able to charge you even less per unit than single-family homes or than smaller units, definitely.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

And then also do you prefer value add? Do you like redevelopment? Where are you at along those lines?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, and that's something that I always, when I talk to other investors, when I talk to new investors and physicians and friends, I try to explain like everything is a balance in life. Again, we may want to hit a higher target, but in contrast, we have a little bit more risk, and vice versa. So in the past we have done value add, which has worked great in the past. But now, because of the current environment and the changes in the interest rates and there are some headwinds, we're trying to focus a little bit more on B plus A type apartment complexes or constructions Like the ones that have maybe a little bit less of a projection in returns, but the risk is also lower.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Yeah, sometimes it's nice to have that stability, isn't it?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, absolutely.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Yeah, as much as one can right.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Exactly, exactly.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

So what's an example, maybe, of something in one of the investment deals where it kind of threw you by surprise and what were you able to do with the team? To collaborate and to, if you want to say, get it back on track? Or maybe you decided this just isn't the deal for us.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, absolutely. And that's something that when we talk with other people like, we say, like any operator or any syndicator, they usually have had some experience like that was not perfect, that was not ideal. Like if he or she doesn't tell you that has had any problems, either he or she is new or is lying to you. So, like in our case. I mean we have seen a couple of situations. So, for example, we bought a property and we use a property management company and we saw that the operations were not ideal or were not perfect.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

So when that happens, you usually try to be more involved as asset manager and be more involved with the property management company and work together, side by side. But when there's a point that doesn't work, so many people is concerned about trying to switch a PM company. Because we all know that when we switch property management companies, the operations suffer and it's sometimes very difficult to make the switch. But at the end of the day, you need to have the strength to do that because in the long term is when I have the property. So that happens in one of our properties in the past and we were able to make the switch and thankfully now is doing well.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Oh, that's wonderful, Because property management is integral to any well-functioning investment and I think sometimes people lose sight of that. And also, when you look at the range of percents that they charge, there's a lot of fluctuation and it really does pay to do your due diligence, like you mentioned. So as we bring this home here, I've got the tough question which I ask everyone but what does living fully mean to you?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yeah, I believe it's like doing the things that you like with the people that you love, and if that means to continue working or if that means to quit your job or doing other things, go and do it Like at the end of the day, what we look at is to be happy, and we can be happy just doing our jobs. We can be happy doing our own companies, starting a new company, being entrepreneurs or being with our families. So, yeah, that's why I believe to be doing a full life.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Well, that is a beautiful lie in my book. So, harry, thank you so much for joining me, thank you for joining our audience, and where can people reach out to you?

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Yes, absolutely so. We have our company's NEMA Equity. Nema is an N-A-C-I-M-A Equity and we have our website. We're also very active in social media and LinkedIn, facebook. We have even our YouTube channel so they can go there.

Heather Ewing, CCIM:

Perfect. Thank you so much, Harry. Have a great afternoon.

Harry Nima Zegarra, MD:

Thank you, Heather.