Episode 113: How To Be Financially Free Through Real Estate Syndications with Amy Sylvis

Acquania Escarne 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to the Purpose of Money podcast today I'm super excited to be joined with Amy Sylvis, who is a multifamily unit investor and a wonderful person who's going to share with us her real estate journey.

Acquania Escarne 0:14

You are listening to the Purpose of Money podcast, a podcast where we talk about ways to build wealth and create more freedom in your life today. I am your host Acquania Escarne. Before we get started, I want to tell you a little bit more about Amy because I am super excited to have her on the show and I really can't wait to get her tips. Amy Sylvis is the founder and principal of Sylvis capital, a real estate firm that invests in large commercial real estate properties in emerging markets throughout the United States. accredited and non accredited investors appreciate investing alongside with her and take advantage of not only her extensive expertise, but also her detailed research and exclusive relationships. Sylvis capital offers commercial real estate investment opportunities without the day to day hassles of owning real estate while generating strong returns. Her company currently has over 748 apartment units 208 208,000 square feet of flex industrial space and $96 million worth of assets under management. Wow, Amy, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here today.

Amy Sylvis 1:33

What an honour. Thank you so much for having me. This is exciting.

Acquania Escarne 1:36

Yes. So I don't know how much you know about me, but I am a truly passive real estate investor. I love multifamily units, hotels syndications. Love it, love it, love it. Absolutely. And am invested in a few of my own. So this is going to be a really exciting opportunity for me to talk to someone else. Who knows exactly what I mean when I say I love making money through syndications, because they are completely passive. Yeah, before we get into all of that, I want my guests and learn a little bit more about you and who you are. So can we take a sec to learn about what was money like for you when you were growing up? If you? Yeah,

Amy Sylvis 2:19

yeah, let's dive into it. I appreciate it. Thank you what an astute question. That really matters, right? You know, I grew up in a very middle class household. My father did general, he was a general contractor, he worked with his hands. And because I grew up with a pretty severe lung condition, my mom stayed at home. So money was tight, money was a bit scary. But money was also a vehicle for us to be able to provide for our needs. So it was a pretty interesting relationship growing up.

Acquania Escarne 2:50

I love it. And do you think in any way that determined your decision or impacted your decision to want to get into real estate,

Amy Sylvis 2:59

Big time, big time, but because of my illness, I wasn't always sure how long I'd be able to trade my time for money. So I was looking for something where if I was, you know, in the hospital and dealing with, I have cystic fibrosis, I wanted to make sure I could always take care of my bills and not have to be dependent on anyone else. So yeah, I think that that's scarcity that I experienced a little bit growing up, and the humble beginnings played a massive role.

Acquania Escarne 3:25

Oh, man, I totally get that though. And I appreciate how you went for something that you knew could give you the returns you were looking for. But I'm curious to know, did you start out with investing in multi units? Or did you do some other form of real estate investing first,

Amy Sylvis 3:41

so I passively invested for a number of years prior to buying and operating my own. But yes, my very first real estate purchase, even to this day, was a 58 unit apartment complex. In Tennessee, my husband and I still have never owned our own home intentionally. Because we felt our returns could be much better by investing in large multifamily.

Acquania Escarne 4:04

I love it. I love it. So what happened with that first deal? How did you find out about it? And what gave you the courage to move forward?

Amy Sylvis 4:14

Yes, yes, it was a long time coming. So broker relationships were really key for that deal. I searched for the better part of two years, believe it or not for that first, that first deal, but got to know a broker really well got to know a market outside of Nashville that I thought was really attractive. So gosh, what gave me the courage. You know, it was business partners. I never realised how much this is a team sport in the multifamily space. So partnering up with people who already had the experience and a track record and figuring out how I could add value to them was really the key and because they knew, you know, some of the things that I needed to learn on the job, you can't really read about all of these things. It really gave me the courage to step into it. My real estate investor identity.

Acquania Escarne 5:02

I love that that is super exciting. And I would say the same thing. I my journey is a little different. I started out with renting, right my own condo that we moved out of, and my husband and I decided we're never going back there. But this is a great neighbourhood and great rental opportunity. And then we moved overseas, believe it or not. So we spent some time living abroad, letting someone else pay the mortgage, and saving our coins, right? Because where we went, the company that my husband worked for in a company, I worked for both covered housing and utility. So we had our hugest expense eliminated, right? But when we came back, we decided let's double down let's get into more real estate. So we invested in properties and Philadelphia, West Philadelphia to be exact and hated it. Really actually learned after two years that I don't like toilets and tenants, but I do like real estate investing. So I actually same as you once I realised what I like and don't like I spent quite a bit of time looking for the right opportunity and came across a colleague, who does multifamily syndications on the side, so she was like, oh, when I'm not here at work, I'm doing this multifamily investing, finding investors finding deals, bringing the two together. So I was like, Oh, that's so interesting. Yes. But believe it or not, in COVID, I couldn't find the deal. I had the money. I was waiting and waiting. None of the deals made sense. As you know, that was the beginning of the height of the real estate market going up and up and up in cost. So they just didn't the numbers didn't make sense. But I did find a hotel. So I got into my first hotel investment in 2020. But I couldn't find a good multifamily deal until 2021. But I tell you, it's it's the greatest thing because I do own right, I get the k one. That's the tax document that allows me to write off some of the expenses from the ownership, but then also take advantage of appreciation, depreciation, all those things. Yeah, then I also get monthly cash flow. Because once the rents collected, and all the expenses are paid, investors are paid net. So that's just a sneak peek guys on what multifamily syndications can look like for you. You invest capital once in the beginning, and then you receive your returns on a monthly or quarterly basis. And then hopefully at the time of sale. So tell me, because you got into your first deal 58 units, and in an area that you could learn more about, but what is the experience like for some of your investors, who may have never set foot in the areas where you are encouraging them to invest?

Amy Sylvis 7:55

I love that question. Because market research, I tell my investors, you know, I do a lot of education, which you know, I think is incredibly important. But gosh, choosing the right market can be much more than just the cherry on top of any investment. So yeah, I love to educate my investors. And of course, I'm out here in Los Angeles, right? So I love to help bring markets to my investors in terms of painting the picture of why this is a great opportunity. What's the economy? Like? What's driving growth? Why are people moving to the area, and of course, the best we can to help them, you know, touch and feel the the micro market, if you were will, as to where the property is. So yeah, it's all about education, very data driven, as well. So folks can really understand why we're choosing that area so they can feel comfortable.

Acquania Escarne 8:42

I love it. I think that's key is like they need to know your experience and what you're doing. But then the data doesn't lie, right? You present the stats, and they make the informed decision. So I love that. And I think that's important, whether you are the general partner of the deal, or the limited partner investing in the deal. So I use those terms just now. But I would love for you to let everyone know what the heck do they mean?

Amy Sylvis 9:11

Yes, yes. So there's something called the syndication. You mentioned that before, where basically the the federal government, the Securities and Exchange Commission allows us to pull money together, and we can go ahead and buy something a lot of people here, Amy, you bought a $6,000,000.58 unit apartment complex, you know, that is pretty, pretty small. They're in the grand scheme of things, but how, you know, I don't have $6 million just hanging around for to make that purchase. What does that look like? How does that work? Well, if we're all pooling our money together and 50,000 $100,000 increments, then we can make that happen. So there are two types of people that are generally involved in these syndications. One of them are like me, where I find the deal and then I'm operating the deal and I'm bringing investors into the deal. So I'm the general partner. So I'm making the day to day decisions. I'm asset managing with the property management company. And then they're lovely people like you, that are my limited partners, and they decide to invest. And it's completely passive. You receive checks, in our case quarterly, without having to deal with the tenants, termites, and toilets, as I love to say. So you're just getting that mailbox money, which is incredible. So I hope I define those terms. Okay, let

Acquania Escarne 10:29

That's excellent. Yeah, excellently defined, very clear. And really, I also like to add, if I could, that the best way to think about it is who makes the big decisions. So as a general partner, you make the big decisions. And the day to day you are managing the property manager, who will take care of the day to day they get the property manager will get the complaints, the maintenance requests, and even check in and check out new tenants, right, and you're the general partner who makes sure they do their job. But then you also report to the limited partners about the progress of the property. But as a limited partner, I cannot go into the apartment and change the paint on the walls, or decide that the pool should be drained and filled with hot bubbles. Because a limited partner doesn't have that type of power. So if you ever get confused about where you stand in the deal, ask yourself, can I make a major decision?

Acquania Escarne 11:35

That's the best way to think about it. And that is how I explain it to those who I'm educating because some people they've never heard of that even the possibility of being able to invest in apartments, because I have to be honest, when I was a kid, and my cousins lived in an apartment subdivision, I assumed a corporation owned it, you know, there wasn't really a possibility for me, you or anyone else to put money into the deals. It really wasn't until like 2020, when I'm asking how can I stay in real estate without having to deal with tenants? And I got so many ideas. And this came to mind. I said, I had no idea. I just assumed that, you know, a corporation owned them a corporation owned hotels, this is what I thought. And everyone's like, no, an accompany owns it. And their company normally consists of multiple investors with enough money to pull together to do the deal. So I love that. But let's go into the other perks of real estate investing that have nothing to do with real estate. You mentioned that real estate gave you freedom, freedom to be well or be sick, right and not have to worry about working. What other types of freedom have you been able to enjoy? Thanks to investing in real estate?

Amy Sylvis 12:54

Oh, yes, I love those five freedoms, right? So yes, the freedom of association, meaning I can choose who I'm around, whether it's my investors, whether it's my business partners, you know, I'm not stuck at work with maybe some colleagues that, that don't fit my values or don't align with me. So that's a big one time freedom, you know, you as you mentioned, you know, with regards to health or anything, you know, I control my time, so I'm able to make those decisions. And then of course, geographic freedom. So not I love to say live where you want and invest where it makes sense. So I'm out here in Los Angeles. I'm not crazy enough to invest here. But you know, I can invest where it makes the most sense financially. But then my husband and I can live we can run this business anywhere in the world. So there's a lot of benefits there. So yeah, countless, countless freedoms that we really enjoy.

Acquania Escarne 13:47

I love it. I love it the freedom to do what you please. Why you are living in California, which is probably one of the most expensive real estate markets just heard the news that Beyonce and Jay Z bought a $200 million house, so anything is possible in California. But Silva's capital gets apartment investments in Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, which are some of the more affordable places to live, right. So I totally get what you're doing here you are allowing your business to fund your lifestyle. But then also, if you don't want to be in California next week, you can leave right yeah, so I completely love that. Um, I also appreciate your transparency about you having a genetic illness that let you know, you never know how long you're gonna live it How long did you think that you would live versus how old you are now?

Amy Sylvis 14:43

I appreciate that. You know, I think it's 2023 we all understand representation matters, right? We all have a story and I was always pretty hesitant you know, hey, are people gonna wonder, you know, it should have should I invest with her? You know, she has, you know, some things going on, but I need other people to understand that, you know, they can do this too, even if they have health challenges or, or anything else. So yeah, when I was born, my parents were told I live to be about nine years old. And you know, about a month I'll be 42. You can see some of the grey hairs poking through and my, my nice dye job there. So I don't, I don't mind talking about my age or showing my wrinkles. I'm very proud to be the age that I am. And yeah, hopefully encourage other people to know that they can do it too, if I can.

Acquania Escarne 15:29

Yes, I absolutely love that. And as someone who's turning the Big Four, oh, this year, I am super proud of you. You look great. I think you look like 16 or 17. Max. So why don't we just keep it there. But that's good. I think this is inspirational. All around, especially for women who might be single moms and want more freedom right to spend time with their family? Or maybe they have health challenges, or maybe they just want to make some money. Yeah. So let's talk about what does it really cost to get your foot in the door? Because I get this question a lot. I have an answer in mind. But you are doing this day in and day out. You're looking at deals day in and day out. What is the typical cost to get into syndication?

Amy Sylvis 16:16

Yeah, if you're interested in investing in a syndication, typically $50,000 Is is typical of the minimum. And a lot of people don't know that they can use their retirement accounts to invest, right. A lot of people think they're stuck with stocks, bonds and mutual funds. And there's nothing wrong with those at all. But some folks like some diversification and who doesn't want to own some real estate for you to plan for their retirement. So I think that's really cool, too.

Acquania Escarne 16:41

Yes, I love that. And that's the true answer guys, before COVID, the 50k 100k or more was the average standard to get into a deal, I would say the only time I saw a dip in the cost was in COVID, when they were really trying to raise money. And I saw a few opportunities at 25k. But that is not often. And it's not always available to everyone. I think the other thing we should bring up is who can invest in these deals. So I did mention when I read your bio, that there's the non accredited and accredited investors. But what does that mean?

Amy Sylvis 17:20

Yes. So I personally think this is a good thing that again, bringing up the Securities and Exchange Commission, their role as a government regulatory agencies to make sure that people are protected that our investors are protected. So they say that there are two categories of people. And we have syndication opportunities that are dependent upon each of these categories. So one is a non accredited or sophisticated investor, and the other one is accredited. So an accredited investor is someone that has a net worth outside of their home where they live of a million dollars, or someone that makes $200,000 a year, the past two years, and expects to have to make that again this year as a single person or 300,000. With a spouse. So those types of opportunities, we can advertise, we don't have to have a pre existing relationship, those people can invest in those types of opportunities. We try to do those, but also opportunities for non accredited folks that don't fit that current financial criteria, but have a good sophisticated understanding of their own personal, you know, wealth, what investing looks like. And we really need to have a substantive relationship with those folks and understand kind of where they are. Because we don't want to take people's you know, last money or these aren't risk free investments, they do have risks. So we don't want to put people if God forbid, something went south, we don't want to put people in a bad situation. So it's a big mouthful. I hope that makes a little

Acquania Escarne 18:53

Makes complete sense to me. I love it. You explained it very well. The only thing I would add is that when it comes to opportunities that permit non accredited investors, so that's the people who don't have the million in assets or the 200k 300k in income. The six degrees of separation is important. You're supposed to know them or have knowledge of them or someone else in the group. And give them an opportunity to ask questions, learn as much as possible and make sure like you said, They're not investing their last dollar because because syndications are not a own today sold tomorrow type of opportunity. I don't know about yours, but most of mine have a three to five year ownership timeline. And so when they take my money, they're gonna keep it for at least three to five years. And then I'll only get dividends every quarter or every month, right. So that's just a portion of the profits. So you got to be willing to put money into this and know that it's not going to come back in six months or a year in some cases. Normally it's at the time No, Sam. Yeah. But you raised a good point that I love to talk about, which is all the monies that you can use for deals and retirement funds are overlooked all the time. But I have leveraged my retirement assets on two occasions to invest in real estate opportunities. So my favourite is a solo 401 K, it's basically a fund that I can direct where the money goes, I put money into it, I also get a business deduction for it because my business is making those contributions. But then I can take that money and invest it in a syndication a hotel, if you wanted to Bitcoin, gold, silver, there's like so many options, but I choose to be real estate focused. And the same applies with a self directed individual retirement account that you can also use. Do you have any pros and cons to any other vehicles? Like cash is always an option as well. But we haven't talked about using cash to do deals. What is your opinion on it?

Amy Sylvis 21:03

So are you talking about using cash to buy or to invest as a syndication to

Acquania Escarne 21:08

Invest in a syndicate? Okay.

Amy Sylvis 21:10

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, you know, some folks, they, they have their nest egg, you know, I don't give financial advice, right, I just talk about what I do. But, you know, I have my nest egg where, you know, in case there's, there's an emergency or something, I have liquid cash on hand, and then, you know, we contribute to our retirement accounts, and then whatever's leftover. Yeah, we're able to invest with that. So yes, absolutely, you know, cash that you have in your savings account, or maybe you got a bonus from your job, or you've been set, you know, steadily saving, always a great opportunity to invest that. And, you know, inflation is no joke, I think we've all come to understand what inflation can mean. But even 3 or 4% annual inflation can really chip away at the worth of your savings if you're not deploying that.

Acquania Escarne 21:10

Absolutely. I totally agree. So I know that you have a lot of multifamily units. But have you ever thought about other streams of real estate like storage facilities, mobile homes, anything like that?

Amy Sylvis 22:07

Yeah. So last year, we bought our first flex industrial property. So we've all heard of, you know, the supply chain issues that happened during COVID. And a lot of manufacturing is returning back to the United States. So I'm excited to facilitate that and be a part of that movement. So this industrial real estate was a great opportunity. The other really neat thing about this was located in Kansas City. So a great kind of crossroads of the United States in terms of location, and why that's an advantage there. But it has a triple net lease component, meaning that instead of me as the owner, the tenants pay the taxes, the insurance and the repairs and maintenance. So you think about inflation and costs of things going up. It's a great way to hedge. So yeah, I love that property. And we actually just gave our first distributions to our investors this week. So yay,

Acquania Escarne 23:03

Exciting things. Yes. A way the money to the investors. I love it. I love it. Yeah, how many deals a year do you aspire to do?

Amy Sylvis 23:12

Hmm. I am annoyingly picky. And I tell my investors that off the top, if they're looking for a deal, you know, a new deal a month to invest in, I'm probably not their lady, I am pretty darn conservative. So three, maybe four deals a year is usually my cap, I say no to most deals, because you know, I invest my own money in these my parents retirement, obviously, I owe a duty to my investors to be as strict and conservative as possible. So I don't do very many. But I make sure that when we have them, that they're really robust and exciting opportunities.

Acquania Escarne 23:47

I love that. And I think that's great. So before you give all the details on how someone can contact you to get into your next deal, I'd love to hear your question your answer to my signature question. So the name of the podcast is called the Purpose of Money. And I would love to know what is your purpose for money?

Amy Sylvis 24:06

Yes. All right. So you know, above and beyond personal expenses, which we all have, that's all well and good. My husband and I have two things that weigh heavily on our heart. The first thing is, my husband grew up in inner city, Los Angeles, and was the benefactor of after school programmes that kept him on the straight and narrow while his parents worked their tails off to provide for their family. So although we don't have children, ourselves, we are dedicated to an organisation called The Heart of LA and we want to put them out of the fundraising business. We want to be able to donate so much money that they can, you know, have an endowment, they can be able to be self sustaining, and we can really contribute to the next generation of, of Los Angeles children here in LA. And then about I received a miracle medication for my lung condition about four years ago, but only about button only 90% of people cystic fibrosis can take it, there's still 10% of people left that need a drug. So we want to make sure that they're not left behind. So our goal is to find a cure for that last 10% of people with CF. So that's where our money and our hearts are and really motivates us in the real estate space.

Acquania Escarne 25:18

Oh, I love it. That is beautiful. I think one of the most beautiful answers I've had to the question so far. So we will make sure to drop all of these links in the show notes. But please let us know. What's the best way to get in contact with you and how can people

Amy Sylvis 25:35

connect? Yes, yes. So I'm big on LinkedIn. I love to provide educational content and help people understand this space. So my last name spells is spelled a little funky, but I'm sure you can put it in the show notes. You can just look me up but Amy Sylvis on LinkedIn. And then Sylvis Capital is my website so you can get in touch with me there, see what we're up to. And I'd love to get to know everyone.

Acquania Escarne 25:57

Thank you so much, Amy for being on the show today. I really appreciate it. And guys, do not forget to like and subscribe to the show and share this episode with anyone you know who would love to hear it. Until next time, keep building generational wealth.

Acquania Escarne 26:15

Thank you for listening to the Purpose of Money podcast. For more resources and information, check out my website, thepurposeofmoney.com and while you're there, please sign up for our newsletter, so you'll have all the latest information on new episodes and blog posts. Until next time, keep building generational wealth.

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