Please introduce yourself.
My name is Ganiyu Shittu, and I am a Real Estate Investor based out of New York. I have been an investor for 4 years but within the past year, I have begun to scale more aggressively, focusing on other markets outside of NY, including New Jersey, Chicago, Connecticut, and Chicago.
How did you get started in the real estate business?
I began my journey into real estate through knowledge obtained from an online course. The course opened my eyes to the possibilities of real estate investing.
What are some hot markets for real estate that you are excited about?
New York and New Jersey.
How do you source your real estate deals?
My lead sources for my deals are primarily my brokers and contractors. I have multiple brokers and contractors within each state that I invest in. I always try to foster partnerships and positive relationships with each and every individual.
What are some checks and balances you’ve put in place to protect your real estate transactions?
I create a system that encourages individual growth but at the same time does not give too much control to one party. For example, my contractor has full autonomy when it comes to designing the layout of each unit. However, this creativity is limited within the defined budget given to him and the financial distribution of the project is based on his performance.
What is one piece of advice you would give someone starting their real estate career?
Find a mentor. Save steps, mistakes, and most especially time by getting a mentor. Find someone you admire and figure out ways to create a relationship in which you are adding value to him/her.
What is one software you use for your business and recommend to others?
I am an Excel junkie. I like to keep records and dates in my Excel sheets to give me a running financial picture of each project.
What is your superpower in life?
I am very relatable and brutally honest.
What is a failure you’ve had in life that set you up for eventual success?
I don’t look at any experiences as failures, rather as lessons. When something does not go my way, I try to see what happened and find the lesson behind that experience. Learning the lesson behind the experience is a more productive way of evaluating experiences.
What is one book that has influenced your life the most? Why?
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This book encompasses strategies not just to become wealthy but to help reconstruct a more desirable mindset to understand many components of life.
