Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Karpel.
Jared, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was practicing law, representing real estate investors. I was slaving away at the billable hour. And it was the thought of “if these guys can do it, so can I.” So back in 2004, I bought my first income property – small single family house. Then a year later bought a duplex, then a 4 unit apartment complex. Now we are buying multi-million dollar apartments.
What is different about what we do is that we are syndicators. We find the property, underwrite the deal and then raise the capital from family and friends to invest in a group together – offering our investors the opportunity to own rental properties; where the typical small investor would not have the money, time, knowledge or skill to invest on their own. In 2011, the property managers that were managing our properties were doing a poor job of managing our properties and again it was “I can do it better”; so, we fired our management and I built my own management company. Now we own and manage over 300 units throughout Southern California. On the management side, we manage single family residences, apartment buildings, luxury estates and Home Owner Associations. We focus on adding value to our clients by increasing income, controlling costs without sacrificing quality to our tenants.
Has it been a smooth road?
We believe that contradictory challenges allow us to grow as individuals and as a company. There have been many challenges along the way.
Whether it be operational, process, strategy, marketing, managing client expectations, controlling costs, etc. By far and away, the most challenging aspect of our company is managing our people.
We believe that if we treat our employees well, i.e., mutual respect and give them an opportunity to grow, then they will be happy. If our employees are happy then they go the extra mile for our clients. We believe in offering our clients an “elevated level of service.” This can only happen if our employees are happy and feel fulfilled in their roles. They feel a sense of purpose to provide value to our clients. We spend a lot of time training our employees, offering feedback and a safe place where they can experiment and fail. We believe that failure is GOOD, as long as we grow and learn from it.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the KIG Capital Real Estate story. Tell us more about the business.
KIG Capital Real Estate is a real estate investment/syndication and management firm.
We provide property owners with full-service property management and leasing representation for multi-unit apartments, rental properties, and H.O.A. complexes.
Our philosophy is that through sound, proactive management, K.I.G. Capital can protect the value of your property and minimize upkeep costs as well as vacancies.
K.I.G. Capital is also a real estate syndication and investment firm, offering value added investment opportunities to accredited investors.
I think what differentiates ourselves from others is that the Managing Partner is a former practicing lawyer, which provides for a higher level of professionalism and value to our clients. Also, we put our tenants FIRST.
Often times with owners of properties, the tenants’ needs are secondary, i.e., the classic “slum lord.” However, we believe that our tenants are our CUSTOMERS. Our tenants pay our bills and our mortgage/taxes, etc. We need to treat them right and create a living environment that breeds a sense of pride in the place they live, even if they are renters.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Despite major technological advances in many industries – Artificial Intelligence and automation replacing jobs, etc, I don’t see that affecting the managing side of our business. There will always be a need for strong effective management to oversee the daily operations of a property.
Investing in smart technology software which streamlines various tasks has been critical. Example, we invested a tremendous amount of money in a real estate management software recently. Whereas drafting a lease used to take us 30 mins to complete, now we can do it in 4 clicks and less than 2 minutes. This is a huge amount of time savings and recouping of efficiencies.
From the investment side, i.e., the ability for the individual to invest in real estate – that is experiencing a major shift. With President Obama’s passage of the Jobs Act, crowdfunding has changed the game in our industry. Prior to the Jobs Act, syndicators (or sponsors – those raising capital for private real estate investments) had very strict guidelines around who we can raise money and from whom. Now with the Jobs Act and the loosening of the rules around raising capital, crowdfunding is HUGE. This allows anyone with $5,000 really to invest in real estate alongside other investors. This was not really possible beforehand. As a result, there have been many real estate crowdsources website platforms that have been created to facilitate this growing demand in our industry.
Contact Info:
- Address: 12400 Ventura Blvd., #792
Studio City, CA 91604 - Website: www.KIGcapital.com
- Phone: 888-270-4452 or 310-909-3033
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kigcapital/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KIGcapital/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kig-capital-real-estate-studio-city
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