623: 10th Grade Dropout to 400-Unit Apartment Complexes (WITHOUT Raising Money)

<p><a href="https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/buying-multifamily" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Multifamily real estate</strong></a> investors almost always raise money for their deals, right? Some would call it almost impossible to try and <strong>build a huge real estate portfolio without borrowing money</strong> or partnering up to take down bigger properties. <strong>Sofia Castro</strong>, along with her husband, not only built a multifamily portfolio using their own money, but did so starting with a severe disadvantage.</p><p>Both Sofia and her husband were <strong>high school dropouts</strong>, living without much money, and practically no experience. A local entrepreneur took Sofia and her husband under his wing, teaching them both how to become <strong>leasing brokers</strong>. From there, they started building their entrepreneurial endeavor, eventually <strong>selling their business </strong>a couple of decades later for a whopping<strong> billion dollars</strong>.</p><p>With cash in hand and real estate experience under their belt, they began <strong>buying apartment complexes to flip them as condos</strong>. Once the <strong>recession </strong>hit, Sofia knew this was the wrong business to be in, so she pivoted heavily towards multifamily rental investing, specifically <strong>investing in “core deals”</strong>. Now, she has a streamlined process for <a href="https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/find-real-estate-deals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>finding deals</strong></a>, <strong>buying deals</strong>, and <strong>screening tenants</strong>. She gives some out-of-the-box, but highly useful tips on tenant screening, property management, and why “value-add” real estate isn’t all it’s chopped up to be.</p><p><strong>In This Episode We Cover:</strong></p><p><strong>“Core deals” explained</strong> and why they often beat value-add properties</p><p><a href="https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/cap-rate-real-estate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">