We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Prem Advani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Prem thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?

I earned my real estate license while I was studying for the Ca State Bar to become an attorney. At the time, I was following my passion of real estate and didn’t completely understand what a career in real estate really meant but I knew I wanted to follow my dreams. I thought that my education would put me in a superior position and that clients would flock to me based on my knowledge about the law. However, I learned that this was not the case and that I’d have to learn how to market myself, which is something that I struggle with even today. It is a source of fear and anxiety and while I haven’t over come this yet, I do feel like I’ve learned some valuable lessons about over valuing yourself and staying humble. There’s always more to learn and I am grateful that the lesson was handed to me very early in my career.

Prem, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I began in real estate while studying law at the University of San Diego. I realized, rather quickly, that I L-O-V-E-D San Diego and that I would stay here after completing my education. With that realization and a small retirement savings account from my first job, I set out to find a small condo to purchase. Going to open houses, I realized that the real estate industry is full of YES MEN and WOMEN. Should I buy this home? “Yes”. But when it came time to evaluate the Why, few practitioners, if any, could provide any solid advice. What the property could rent for? How to hold title? Tax consequences of ownership? Disposition and it’s analysis. From that moment, I set out to create a consultative approach to provide real value in making those decisions and understanding every major aspect of real estate. I constantly try and learn about the multiple aspects of real estate, finance, construction, etc and use that real world education to coach my clients in the best capacity. Where I learn the most, by doing it myself.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

In 2008, we were facing a pretty hairy recession and the sales side of our business was slowing to almost nothing and simultaneously we didn’t have the capital to develop so we started a property management company. We grew that business over the next 9 years, grinding it out and received an unsolicited offer to purchase the company for a handsome multiple. The transaction, initially went well, but during the first year, where I was retained to transition the book over, I realized that our values were substantially different and I had a philosophy that was a stark contrast to the company I had sold to. I don’t regret selling the business but I do feel like I should have vetted the buyer and chosen someone who reflected our core values. When you’re business is ready to sell, is when you really need to consider if you should.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

In one word, don’t. Don’t raise capital to start your business. It will be a slower start but one of my biggest regrets was raising capital for my business. First, I think I didn’t negotiate the acquisition as well as I could have. I bought a failing mortgage and real estate company in 2006 and they really didn’t have a lot of options so I could have bought it for pennies on the dollar had I waited until I had the money, but because I raised it, we made the deal work sooner. Also, I had the mindset of making it a larger business so set it up like a larger business rather than letting it grow and having those growing pains. Those growing pains are important and what you learn when you don’t have the cash flow. The biggest difference, you don’t have anyone to pay back or have to give up equity when you’re starting out. Keep the equity as long as you can.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.advanirealty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advanirealty/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advanirealty
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcmiP8PBkE0ugFIyCEGb1tg