Hakeem Valles’ story is all about overcoming the odds. Hakeem made it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent and played in the league for three years with the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and New York Giants.
He retired from the NFL in 2019 and is now a full-time real estate investor and national speaker based in St. Louis. Valles invests in multi-family properties, in emerging markets all around the country, focusing on areas with a high quality of life and nice people. His journey from a bench warmer in college, to starting his senior year led him to be an undrafted free agent. He took advantage of that opportunity but also began to invest in multifamily apartments.
Hakeem shares how he started investing in real estate while playing football, what drove him to focus on multifamily investing, and how he uses social media like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter to build his business.
Partner: Download a Free Sample Apartment Deal Package
Key Insights
Went to Monmouth University in New Jersey
Only started his senior year and blossomed
Went undrafted and signed with the Arizona Cardinals
Learned about commercial real estate, cap rates, and IRR in college
Ex-girlfriend and dad started real estate house flipping business
Installed floors, drove for dollars, went to auctions
Retired from the NFL after realizing his true passion was real estate
Bought a 4-unit in Arizona and then a duplex in Detroit
Wanted to buy larger assets and was building a strong team
Put in an offer for a 67-unit in St. Louis and negotiated for two months
Received the actual income statements from the seller’s accountant and the NOI was off by $200k – had to walk away
Fiancé gave birth during one of the games
Had 1-hr to be a dad after practice all day and realized he wasn’t happy
Just closed on a 7-unit in Des Moines – investing $60k
Putting in an offer on 8-unit in Ft Lauderdale, partnering with private equity group in Israel
Tips to Select Markets: Review market reports and compare to census reports – look for population and job growth and call economic dev’t office
Ask economic office, “what plans do you have to incentivize big businesses”
Regrets not doing more with social media while he was playing
Strategy approach – give value, use keynote speeches to create social videos
Created a video of how he bought a four-plex in Arizona, it got 80,000 views on LinkedIn
Blackerpockets got 100,000 views on it
Answer question and use the video and content
Went to biggerpockets and found questions and started answering the questions
Content has to be contextual to the platform
Instagram is more entertainment based – college market, younger audience
LinkedIn is more organic and catered to the business audience – more consumers of content than creators of content
Twitter is jumping into conversations
Partner: Check out the Passive Income through Multifamily Real Estate podcast with Kyle and Lalita Mitchell
Bull’s Eye Tips:
Winning Your Market: Know the people and talk to everyone you come across
Tracking Market Changes: Staying connected
Daily Habit: Brandon Turner’s 90 Days of Intention Journal
Resources:
90 Days of Intention Journal by Brandon Turner
Best Business Books:
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Digital Resources:
Add Subtitles
Tweet This:
“Ask the economic office, “what plans do you have to incentivize big businesses”
“85% of videos on social media are watched without sound”
Places to Grab a Bite:
Ginghams 24-Hr
Connect with Hakeem:
Instagram: @hakvalles80
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