Who am I? Allow me to share my story…
I did my undergrad at a top computer science school in my home country (FAST National University).
Eventually, I was accepted into a university in the United States to obtain my Masters. This education allowed me to enjoy a successful career at Top-100 companies in the U.S.
In 2010, I graduated. This was a troubling time as very few companies were hiring coming out of the Great Recession of 2008.
My peers and friends were either going back to school or doing odd jobs to pay bills.
Given my personality, I wanted to give job hunting an honest hard try before giving up and I got lucky! I was able to secure a job!
The 2008 recession taught me a very valuable lesson that I needed to create another source of income.
I wasn’t wealthy at the time, but I was making a healthy income as an engineer in the Oil-n-Gas sector.
I needed to invest my hard-earned capital in something, so I took the traditional approach… I invested in the stock market.
I quickly learned I should not do this again. I lost a lot of money when the market became volatile and shifted.
As someone who spent years working in the corporate world, I knew I wanted a way to not to be dependent only on my W2 income.
I craved the freedom to spend more time with my family and travel without worrying about work.
That’s when I discovered the power of commercial real estate. In particular, the power of apartments (multifamily).
After years of studying and investing in apartments on my own, I founded Headway Capital in 2014.
Headway’s goal is clear:
Give others seeking financial independence access to private real estate investments so they can grow & preserve their wealth.
Why commercial real estate? Here’s why…
– Recession resilient
– Provides great tax benefits
– Is risk-adjusted compared to stocks
Allow me to dive into each of these points in detail…
The first thing that attracted me to commercial real estate was its recession-resilient nature.
When the stock market is down, people often flock to tangible assets like real estate. Apartments, in particular, have proven to be resilient during economic downturns.
People will always need a place to live… apartments tend to be more affordable than homes, making them an attractive option for renters during tough economic times.
I also learned about the tax benefits that come. Investing in apartments allows you to defer taxes on your profits.
Through tools like cost segregation, you can speed up depreciation on your property and reduce your tax liability.
This means you get to keep more of your money in your pocket.
The cash flow generated from rental income is typically taxed at a lower rate than other types of income.
This means you get to keep more of your rental income while still enjoying the benefits of property appreciation over time.
Finally, the risk-adjusted nature of commercial real estate was hard to overlook.
Unlike the stock market, where the value of your investments can swing wildly in a matter of days, commercial real estate investments tend to be more stable.
Apartments, in particular, provide a steady stream of income through rent payments.
As long as you have good tenants who pay their rent on time, you can enjoy a reliable source of income that is not tied to the stock market’s ups and downs.
Investing in apartments has allowed me to buy back my time and achieve financial freedom. I no longer have to work long hours in a corporate job to pay the bills. Instead, I have the freedom to spend more time with my family, take vacations, and pursue my passions.
Of course, investing in commercial real estate is not without its risks. It requires a significant amount of research, due diligence, and careful planning.
You need to find the right property in the right location, and you need to manage it well to ensure it generates the cash flow you need.
This is very time-consuming, which is why I still passively invest in projects with people I know, like and trust to this day.
I always recommend anyone too busy to manage real estate do the same. Skip the headaches, tenants, and toilets.
Investing in apartments has been a liberating experience that has changed my life for the better. I hope you enjoy me on this journey.
~ Sid Shamim
CEO & Founder
