David Pere: Coming up, real estate

investing and building my favorite

real estate investing CRM recently.

If you're new here, we help service

members and veterans achieve financial

freedom through real estate investing,

entrepreneurship, personal finance.

And if you're willing to take it to

the next level or wanting to take

it to the next level, we also have a

mastermind called the war room that

you should absolutely check out.

Now, today's episode is with Sharad

Mehta, the founder and CEO of

re simply, which is my personal

favorite real estate investing CRM.

And he is building this out program.

It's an all in one solution for tech for

real estate investors, but he doesn't just

talk the talk as Sherrod has successfully

completed over 750 deals in the past

decade and owns 50 rental properties,

90 percent of which are free and clear.

And he manages his entire

operation virtually with a small

team using his CRM re simply.

And this is going to be a lot of fun

because I really like this platform.

So in this episode, we're going to cover.

His real estate investing, his

building of the software company,

what prompted the building lessons

learned and why you should use it.

So definitely make sure you listen all

the way through and enjoy the show.

Hey, Shrad, welcome to the show, brother.

Sharad Mehta: Hey, David.

Thank you for having me, man.

Super excited to be here talking to you.

David Pere: Absolutely.

You know, I'm a big fan of your, uh, your

CRM, your software that you've developed.

So I look forward to

digging into a lot of this.

Um, before we kind of go back and

tell backstory, I'm, I'm really just

curious because I know that you are a.

Fairly large scale real estate investor

and obviously run what I believe to

be one of the best CRMs out there.

Um, were you a software developer

or a real estate investor first?

Sharad Mehta: Only real estate investor.

Never been a software developer.

Still am not.

Never planned to be.

David Pere: Oh, I'm sorry.

Well, in that case, what am I

messing up on the terminology there?

Sharad Mehta: Uh, I used

to be an accountant.

Yeah, I used to be an accountant.

I just, I moved from

Chicago to Karlsbad 2015.

I had 40, 50 clips that

I was doing a year.

So I started looking at

software that I would need.

And being an accountant, I

wanted something, you know,

with strong data tracking, KPI.

And Portio was pretty much what

everyone was using back then.

I didn't, I didn't like it.

I just hated the way it looked.

The way it functions.

So I decided to hire a couple of

developers and just help them, you

know, uh, create something for myself.

And that kind of grew into what it is now.

David Pere: Okay.

So just full on entrepreneur side of it

then and, and real estate investor first.

And I like that.

Uh, and I think that's, uh,

that's probably why your software

or your system is so good.

And why so many real estate

investors like it is that you.

Built it with the premise of, uh,

I want this for my own business.

I want to make my life easier.

Sharad Mehta: Yeah, absolutely.

I'm still to this day.

Everyone on my team is on pre simply,

we don't use any other platform.

That was the intention from day one

when I started, uh, with the idea of

pre simply is something where everyone

on my team could be on one platform.

That's exactly what we're doing.

And uh, you know, thousands of other

companies across, uh, across the

country are doing the same thing.

David Pere: Beautiful.

Excellent.

I love it.

Uh, and so for the listeners, I

know you just recently moved back to

Carlsbad, California, where, what, uh,

markets are you actively investing in?

Sharad Mehta: Sorry, David,

you, your voice cut out there.

David Pere: No, no worries.

Uh, I just asked what markets

you're currently investing

in while living in Carlsbad.

Sharad Mehta: Uh, just

in Northwest Indiana.

So I used to live in Chicago.

So I invest in Indiana, which is like

Northwest Indiana, which is about 30 to

45 minutes drive from downtown Chicago.

That's where, uh, that's the only

market that I've only invested.

I've done some other deals here and there,

um, with other investors and other market,

but Northwest Indiana is like 99 percent

of what I've done is in Northwest Indiana.

David Pere: Easy.

I like it.

And obviously you've got systems in

place so you're able to continue rocking

and rolling there from a distance.

When I first found resi, um,

it was actually, it was through

our, our mutual friend Ryan dsi.

I was, uh, I was in CCFI was learning

how to invest with him, um, decided to

use his CRM and I had kind of put around

with Podio and there was another, uh,

I, I don't even remember the name of the

other one that I had messed around with.

You know, Podio took.

Uh, for it to be good, it had to

be, you had to customize so much.

And that just wasn't my thing.

I'm not a, I'm not

inclined that way at all.

And so, you know, he introduced

me to resimpli and I was

like, wow, this is intuitive.

It's simple.

It's, uh, got all the features I need.

And, um, you know, I,

I fell in love, right.

I, I still, uh, not as active of

a off market investor right now.

Uh, but the team that I.

with on that realm.

That's exactly, they basically took

over my existing CRM and they're

using a recent leader and we love it.

So thank you, man.

Um, can you give us a

little bit of the backstory?

How did you go from, I mean, you went

from, you were an accountant background,

you got into real estate investing.

Can you walk us through kind of how

that journey, like what, what got you

into real estate in the first place?

Sharad Mehta: Yeah, man.

So I was an accountant, so I've always

been a lot into personal finance.

Um, you know, Susie Orman, Dave

Ramsey, everything that they

wrote, you know, is to follow them.

And then I started looking at, you

know, financial freedom and I realized,

you know, the job that I had is great

as making decent money, but it wasn't

going to get me to the goal that I

wanted, like financial freedom, you

know, freedom of time and money.

So I started looking at, okay, what could

I do that it's going to help me make.

A lot of money pretty quickly,

you know, rather than getting

like five, 7 percent pay raise.

So, no jokes, uh, at one point

I wanted to be a full time poker

player and I absolutely sucked at it.

My, I, I have a horrible,

horrible, uh, poker faith.

If I have pocket aces or you would

know, you would know if you play

against me that I have pretty good hand.

Uh, that's how bad I am.

Um.

So.

And, uh, I'm like, yeah, okay, so this is

not gonna, it's not gonna work out for me.

And then I, um, then I looked into stocks,

bonds, um, just, I don't have the nerve

for the daily market going up and down.

So I'm like, yeah, this just made me too

anxious putting money in stock market

and watching it, you know, go up or down.

Then I used to follow a

lot of personal finance.

And I was reading a blog, and I was

reading the comment section of the

blog, that's where all the fun is.

Someone had mentioned about a book called,

um, Millionaire real estate investor.

So I'm like, that's exactly what I

want to be, you know, millionaire.

And I'm like, all right, if I do that

through real estate, that's not too bad.

So I started looking more into it

and it seems like 80 percent of

the people that become millionaire

become through real estate.

So I started digging more into it, um, you

know, and then started Googling a lot of

things and bigger pockets kept coming up,

you know, similar to kind of your story.

So became more active on bigger pockets.

My first.

Duplex in August, 2010 or another

one in September, 2010, a month

later, I'm like, Oh, this is amazing.

You know, the first property I bought was,

I think I paid like about 20, 25, 000.

I was all in for about

35, two unit property.

I was getting 1, 300 a month in

rent, like, wow, it's amazing.

If I have like five, six of these and

I manage them well, it could replace.

My full time income, then I decided

to leave my job in March, 2011.

And I thought this is like

once in a lifetime opportunity.

If I go full speed ahead, you know,

the upside is really, really high.

The downside is worst

case, I lose everything.

You know, I tried for a year or two.

I could always go back and find a

job, you know, being an accountant.

So that was the decision then I started

kind of buying rental properties and

I was very because I was following

Dave Ramsey So I was very aggressive

about paying them off pretty quickly.

So the first couple of properties

I bought, I had money saved up.

I used my own money.

After I ran out, I borrowed money

from friends, family, but I was

very intentional about, you know,

the loan kind of loans that I had.

So I would do seven year

amortization with two year balloon.

So I was forced to pay the money,

you know, as quickly as possible.

So I kind of grew from there.

Then 2012 through 14, I connected

with a company based in Australia.

They were helping Australian

investors buy properties in the U.

S.

because of the exchange of the Australian

dollar was very strong against the U.

S.

dollar, so I was wholesaling

a lot of properties to them.

And then from there, all the

money that I had, I just kept

investing in more rental properties.

And then 2015, my wife, she got a job

in Carlsbad, so we moved to Carlsbad.

I still have these.

You know, flips that I was doing

and that's kind of where I started

looking at a software that I

could use in my own business.

David Pere: So how many, how many

rental properties do you or, or units

or however you want to quantify it?

Uh, do you have right now?

Sharad Mehta: 50 and I would

say 90 percent of them are

paid for free and fair.

And then, yeah, so that was, that

was the goal from beginning was.

I don't wanna have, I, I think it was

also influenced by the time that I was,

you know, uh, 'cause of the time that

I was investing 2010 and all the, you

know, market crash that had happened

was because people were over leveraged.

So I think that had a big influence

on my decision to, you know, be

on these properties being clear.

And then I was very mindful, you know,

um, diligent about paying them off.

Even the loans that I have

on couple of properties.

About five units combined.

It's like less than 60, 70, 000.

So I'll probably pay them off

next year and just have a hundred

percent free and clear portfolio.

David Pere: And yeah, talk about

peace of mind and, and how to

actually maximize your cashflow.

I've got, uh, you know, when

I first started, I didn't

have a whole lot of cash.

In fact, I had like a negative net worth.

I didn't have a whole lot of income.

I was active duty enlisted,

you know, Marine Corps.

Um, and so I was leveraging,

leveraging, leveraging,

leveraging, and that was great.

And the cashflow and it worked out well.

Um, and luckily that means that I've,

the more I've owed them or owned them,

the lower my loan to value is right now.

But.

Uh, definitely not the most secure.

I mean, with, with rates changing and, and

everything, it's, it's absolutely been.

Um, there've been some moments

where I'm like, Oh, my cashflow

is not, not where it was.

Sharad Mehta: Right.

No, absolutely.

Man.

I think with me, like being an accountant,

I totally understand I'm leaving a lot

of money on the table by not leveraging.

But I, it gives me the peace of mind.

It gives me, for me personally, given my

financial situation is totally worth it.

You know, I want to be like, I don't have

any goals to have, like the fanciest car

or, you know, the fanciest watch anything.

Like I have a pretty.

moderate lifestyle, which, you know,

my family and I are very happy with.

So the most important thing for us was

just the peace of mind of, you know,

reliable cash flow coming in and not

worrying about, you know, if a tenant

leaves, uh, you know, if I'll be able to.

You know, pay the

mortgage for that or not.

So yeah, I mean, that, that was

a very intentional about that.

Not going for the highest number of

properties, but going for the highest

cashflow given the properties that we had.

David Pere: Okay.

So as we shift gears, you were scaling,

you were, you moved across the country

and you were trying to figure out how

to make things easier for yourself

when you originally had the vision

for re simply and just essentially.

building yourself a system

to help you close deals.

Uh, what was that, like, what

was your, your, your vision of

what it was going to become?

Uh, is it, is this what, what we see now?

Uh, kind of the, I guess the,

the work that you've been working

towards the whole time, or has that

vision evolved as you've grown?

Sharad Mehta: I think that

vision is definitely evolved.

When I started out, I had a

very simple business, right?

I was buying, in fact, then

you could still buy a decent

number of properties from MLS.

But then right around 2014, 15,

the market started shifting.

I started doing more

direct to seller marketing.

So my business was very simple.

I buy properties.

I wasn't wholesaling anything.

I was closing on them, rehabbing

them, and then selling to.

Um, retail or other investors,

there was no assignment.

I didn't even honestly know what

assignment was, how it worked,

wholesaling, you know, the whole

idea of assignment contract.

I had no idea about that.

So the first version of recently was

very heavily project management focus.

And then the CRM that we had, it didn't

even have a column for assigned to buyer.

And then once we rolled out, a lot of our

users started saying, Hey, it would be

cool if you added a column for assigned to

buyer, because that's what we do a lot of.

So I had to kind of understand

what assigned to buyer was, uh,

you know, what assignment was, and

then it kind of grew from there.

You know, I, I don't have a bias list

because we're not wholesaling the latest

update that we made to disposition,

bias management and everything was

done connecting with other users.

I mean, now everything we're doing,

it's grown way beyond my particular

real estate investing needs.

A lot of things that we're rolling

out are based on the feedback

that our investors are using and

saying, Hey, it would be great.

If it did this, if it did that, so

then we prioritize based on that,

you know, a lot of the stuff that

we roll out, I personally don't

need that in my business because my

business, I don't do wholesaling.

I don't, you know, have a virus management

website or stuff like that, but yeah, now

it's very focused on what our users need.

Like what's the next set of features

that would solve a problem for them?

David Pere: Yeah.

And that's been very evident.

Uh, my interactions with you and your

company, uh, all along have been.

That I always really liked the fact that

you guys took feedback and ran with it.

I mean, there's so much that's been built

out, you know, because of that feedback.

Sharad Mehta: Yeah.

And then it's being diligent about,

you know, if we have a hundred

different people asking a hundred

different thing, then we need to

go through that feedback and see.

you know, what's the common threat?

What are a lot of people working on?

You know, if we have limited resources,

what would we need to work on that will

solve pain point for a lot of people?

Um, so, you know, that's, that's the

fun part about, you know, being kind of

where we are now, just going through the

data and see, okay, what should we work

on next that will solve the biggest set

of problems that our users are facing?

David Pere: Is your, do you have it?

Uh, kind of a grandiose vision of where

you want re simply to be in five years,

or is it more, uh, you're personally happy

with where you're at and, and kind of just

adapting as investors request new things.

Sharad Mehta: No, it's interesting

that you ask that I'm working with,

um, you know, someone on kind of

extracting that vision and, um,

looking like three, five years ahead.

Having that big vision then

breaking it down into, you know,

yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly

goals just to keep my focus.

It gets, it gets a little bit hard

at times, you know, I'm sure like

you've run into that also, like once

you create something and you never

thought, you know, would get to the

point where it is now, but you're

like, wow, holy crap, this is amazing.

But then you're like, all right,

you know, looking back, like I could

have thought much bigger than I did.

And, and that's kind of where I

want to make sure I'm not looking,

you know, five years down the road,

I'm not looking back and saying, Oh

man, I wish I had thought bigger.

So that's where I'm working with

someone just to kind of extract

that vision out of me and make sure

that it's like very crystal clear.

David Pere: I think that's smart.

Uh, one of the things that I have members

of my mastermind do when they first get

in there is create a, uh, you know, a

three year vision for themselves and, and

then it's such a smart thing to do, man.

Yeah.

Sharad Mehta: Such a smart thing to do.

Yeah, you want to start with that.

So, you know, kind of which direction

you're going in, um, you know, it's

like going from driving from New

York to Chicago, you know, you want

to take the fastest route possible.

You don't want to idea of

going from New York to Chicago.

You know, you know, you want to go

there, but you don't want to go down

to Texas and then drive up to Chicago.

You still end up there.

But, you You know, it could take

you, you know, for you extra days.

So I think what you do with their

mastermind, it's super, super smart.

And that's like the best way to start

is I have a clear vision and push

yourself and I test your limit and

see, you know, where you could take it.

David Pere: Absolutely.

Um, do you personally have a

favorite feature within recently?

Sharad Mehta: Um, I think for me

it would be just how everything

integrates with accounting.

It's not going to be the most popular

feature because it's like, you know,

when you get into, sure, you know,

you running a business, it's like

the accounting stuff, you know,

that gets like pushed to the back.

It's like, oh, it's like

you only worry about it, you

know, when it comes tax time.

But for me being an accountant, just

kind of how it's seamlessly integrated,

that's my, I'd say that's probably

my favorite feature is just being in

there and like looking at my numbers

and knowing kind of what's working,

what's not working on the business.

Yeah.

David Pere: Wait, why are you

going to call me out like that?

Sharad Mehta: Oh man, yeah.

David Pere: I've got my assistant working.

Uh, I was like, I gave her like the

QuickBooks course and it was like,

you're going to learn all this because

it won't get done unless you do it.

Sharad Mehta: Yeah.

That's, that's, uh, like the least, you

know, attractive part of a business.

Just.

Generally speaking, businesses like the

all the administrative stuff that you have

to do, but that's like the most important,

like in the long term, it's going to

add the most value to the businesses.

I kind of knowing what your numbers are.

Um, so yeah, it's for me that,

but I would say like for most.

People, I would say just the fact

that everything is integrated,

like they can just literally log

in, buy a number, start calling.

I mean, they can't keep start texting

right away because of the 10 DLC, but

you know, it just like how seamlessly

everything integrates, uh, that's

probably the most, you know, uh, value

that our users see from the platform.

David Pere: Yeah.

I love it.

Uh, one of the things, I

mean, there's so much that.

This helped that helped, you know,

recently did for me, but I absolutely

loved from a marketing standpoint,

the, you know, different phone numbers.

So every, every person who calls

in, I know immediately, do they come

from a direct mail or a phone call,

or, uh, I thought that was huge.

And then, you know, I'll tell you the, uh,

the drip campaigns, you know, it's amazing

how I had never used a CRM prior that I.

Had built out correctly to

actually have drip campaigns.

And then I never really thought much about

them until one day I got a phone call from

a lady who I hadn't talked to in 15 months

and didn't know any, like, I couldn't

remember anything about our interaction.

Didn't even remember talking to

her until I pulled up the notes

and I had all the notes there.

And she'd been on a drip campaign

and I was like, Oh shoot.

And she owned two houses on a single

parcel and we ended up making like a 23,

000 spread on, on wholesaling that deal.

And I was like, Oh, well, these are cool.

Like this drip campaign just paid for

the software for the next like decade.

Sharad Mehta: I know, right?

Isn't that amazing?

Like how such a simple thing?

I mean, I just the automating the

follow up the money is in the follow up.

But then for someone to remember,

put notes in the calendar.

If you can take all of that away, just

press a button and then the system

takes care of everything for you.

That's that's the beauty of it.

Um, just like automating the follow

up without you not even knowing that

the system is, you know, be simply

swallowing up for you, you know, while

you're sleeping and then when the

seller is ready, you will get a call.

You just log in, see all the

conversation you've had and just pick

it up exactly where you left off.

David Pere: Yeah, it's been super,

super, super beneficial for sure.

Um, what, uh, as you're building out.

This company, what is, what have

been some of the like unforeseen

challenges that you had and that,

and, and, uh, biggest lessons learned?

I don't know anything about the

developing of a software company.

Sharad Mehta: Hey David, sorry,

your voice cut out there.

I think you were asking about

the some unforeseen challenges

and after that you cut out.

David Pere: Uh, yeah, unforeseen

challenges and just lessons

learned along the journey

through, uh, building this out.

Sharad Mehta: I think the one the most

relevant right now, I would say it's

like A2P and DLC that's just been really,

really frustrating to deal with, not

just for us, I mean, it's just like,

you know, industry wide thing or just

for all businesses that was, that was,

uh, that's been challenged, like getting

our users to kind of start complying

with, uh, with all the regulations

that, and then making a decision.

Um, To switch from one carrier to another

because it would be the right best long

term decision for for everyone that's

using our platform, even though in the

short term, it's been painful, but just

knowing that in the long term, it's going

to be the best decision for for our users

that are using our platform that, you

know, with system related, but just as a

like a company wide, I would say some of

the unforeseen things have been working

with people in different countries,

different cultures, Different languages.

I think that's been interesting.

You know, a challenge that I'm still

struggling with is how to have a culture.

You know, when I'm talking to my team

in India, I'm talking to them in local

language when I'm talking to other team

members in different, you know, different

countries, different departments that

we haven't talked to them in English.

So it's like we have this divide sort

of, you know, where I'm connecting

with my team in India separately.

Which is everyone else, uh, that's, that's

been, that's been an interesting challenge

that I'm kind of trying to figure out

how to best navigate that, you know, so,

yeah, that's, that's what I would say.

It's kind of, it's been,

I never anticipated that.

Um, you know, but I don't know.

And like, even this is

something, even if I look back.

Yeah.

The cultural side of things.

I could have done differently.

I don't even have clear

answers to, to that.

Like knowing I have this problem, if

I could go back to the beginning, you

know, what would I do differently?

It's something that I still struggle with.

David Pere: No, I mean, that makes sense.

I think that's a lot of times it's

like when you're first starting

out, you, you know, you don't really

know where you're going with it.

So how are you going to know that you're

making good, you know, you don't have a,

that's why the vision is so important.

You don't have a way to

steer the ship without it.

Sharad Mehta: Yep.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

But no, it's been, it's been fun.

You know, I've been, it's the, the

challenging days that make the, the

good days even sweeter, you know, if

like everything is going great and

like, Oh, you know, you, you, you don't

just start taking those for granted.

You don't appreciate the good

days as much you do if you have a

bad day, you know, that's really,

really appreciate the good day.

And one thing I have to keep in

mind is, you know, whether it's a

good time or bad time, you know,

it's not going to last forever.

Yeah.

You know, if you have a good time,

keep in mind, just be mindful of that.

The good times are not

going to last forever.

Same thing.

If you're going through bad times, keep

in mind, you know, personal life, business

life, that it's not going to last forever.

So just keeping that in mind, like

looking at a bigger picture of, Hey,

we're going through this, let's take

it as a learning experience and see how

we can come out of this situation as a

better company that can serve our users

in a much better and productive way.

David Pere: I like that.

And yeah, you guys have

been absolutely crushing it.

Um, would you, I mean, I would imagine at

this point, re simply is your full time

gig and real estate is your side hustle.

Is that, uh, kind of an accuracy

? Sharad Mehta: Yeah, we definitely spend

vast majority of my time on re simply.

I still actively flip.

I do about 20 flips a year

now, but it's very hands off.

I live in Carlsbad.

My project manager, she lives

an hour north of me in Marietta.

And then my lead manager, she

lived, she has been with me

for about four or five years.

She used to live in Philippines.

She moved to Canada, uh, six months ago.

So that's, we don't have

anyone local in our business.

It's just three of us doing

about, you know, 20 flips a year.

Wow.

And then we're all on pre simply.

So that's where we kind of

manage everything, lead,

communication, everything.

Yeah.

I mean, that was, that was the

vision from the beginning that.

Everyone on our team could be one

platform, doesn't matter where they are,

as long as the work is getting done.

So that's been, that's been,

and my bookkeeper, she's based

overseas also, um, managing, like

doing my books on a weekly basis.

So I'll just go and review the numbers.

David Pere: I love that you run such

a streamlined team, you know, and 20

flips a year is not small potatoes.

That's a lot of, a lot of

properties going at one time.

And you run a very lean

team all through one CRM.

And I think that's really cool.

And that's a testament, I think, to

what you've built, where you're able

to do that remotely with nobody living

in the local market via resimpli.

Sharad Mehta: Yeah, absolutely.

I don't even, I don't even know the

last time I was actually in Indiana,

uh, looking at my properties.

I, yeah, I don't know.

I think in the last three or four years,

I think I've only been to Indiana once.

Um, so, yeah.

And I own a property management

company also, so I went more to

meet with my property management

company more so to manage the flips.

Hmm.

That makes sense.

Yeah.

David Pere: Yeah, I like that.

Um, what's next?

Sharad Mehta: Uh, we have, we have

another product that we're launching out

for Agent in, you know, in a few months.

Um, that was, that was always once we, you

know, kind of knew that, You know, I mean,

first of all, we named the company simply

because always the goal was to be more

broader than just real estate investor.

So the agent, uh, product that

we're launching now that should

be coming out Q1, uh, 2024.

So excited about that.

We're kind of finished the

development for the most part.

Now we're just testing it out and

then we'll be going live with that.

And then just honestly

would be simply just.

Being more getting more clarity about

my vision where I want to take recently

next three to five years and then just

working with everyone on the team.

Make sure everyone on the team

is aligned towards that goal.

They feel, you know, emotionally bought

in and feel like, okay, this is, you

know, once we reach whatever that might

be the, you know, end of the road, three,

five years, how everyone is going to get

value out of everything that we've done.

David Pere: I love that.

All right.

So we've got a few questions that we

always try to Kind of roll up with, but

before we get there, is there anything

we've missed that you think is like a

must tell, uh, either feature or, or

story within resimpli's, resimpli's

growth and or, uh, your journey?

Sharad Mehta: Hey David, sorry

you froze up there again.

Yeah, I don't know what's

David Pere: going on with

the internet right now.

Um, I just asked if, uh, you know, before

we jump into the last few questions I

always have, um, or is there anything

we missed or that you think is worth

highlighting as far as, uh, you know,

uh, features or, or story about re simply

or your real estate investing journey?

Sharad Mehta: Um, no, I mean, I, I

think with, with recently or just

like real estate investing in general,

anything in life, I think we've.

This year has been learning for us in

terms of being very focused on what

we're adding value with, you know,

reaching out to our customers more

and connecting with them at a deeper

level and really understanding what

their pain points are, rather than.

You know, just in our mind

thinking, Hey, this is what's

going to add the most value.

I think that's something

we need to go back to.

That's what we used to

do really, really well.

And then that's kind of

what we're going back to.

Like we're sending out a

survey to our users today.

And then really getting, you know,

feedback from them on Hey, what would

you like to see with this specific

features that, you know, you've asked

us for if someone says they would like

to see this feature be more developed.

Now we're reaching out.

Okay, what exactly would you like to see?

You know, can you send us a video?

Can you send some screenshots and

then, you know, reaching out to them

and then making them feel like we're

really listening to their feedback.

And we're not just taking it

as an You know, all right.

This is something we'll get to know.

This is something we're

going to prioritize based

on the feedback that we get.

I think that that's something we need to.

We used to do really well, but this year

we kind of just didn't prioritize that.

So we're going back to that

David Pere: like that.

I really like the idea

of crowdsourcing ideas.

I think it's really smart.

Um, okay.

So I have this section, five questions.

I call the debrief.

And, uh, luckily I was able to

find a question in the Facebook

group that actually kind of fit,

uh, what we've been talking about.

I've really been struggling with

that to the point where I'm going to

change this question out eventually.

But, uh, the question was simply,

at what point do you need a

CRM as a real estate investor?

Like where in your journey do

you think it makes sense to start

utilizing something like resimpli?

Sharad Mehta: Um, if you're buying

something directly from MLS.

You probably don't need unless

you're doing high volume, but if

you're buying from MLS, I don't

think you need a CRM, really.

And also if you're doing a deal,

you know, every six months,

you probably don't need it.

But once you start doing any direct

to seller marketing, that's where

I would say if you're spending

more than 500 to thousand bucks.

You know, for a month on average in

marketing, that's where you really want

to make sure you have a CRM for majority

of the investors out there, marketing

would be the biggest expense for them.

So you want to make sure you're

getting the best ROI on your marketing.

If you're spending, you know, 1,

000 a month, let's say sending

direct mail to Q list, you want

to know which list is working.

Let's say if you're paying us 100

a month for that, you might be

like, Oh, I'm spending 500 a month.

I could, instead of paying a hundred bucks

to resimpli, I could up that to 600 bucks.

But if you look at it, if you're spending

500 bucks, let's split it into two

lists that you're mailing out to, what's

going to happen is you will realize

that one list is working better for you.

You'll know kind of what, you know,

marketing channel is working best.

And that's where a CRM does it,

tells you exactly what's working.

So it's not an expense, it's

more like an investment.

But if you're doing, you know, once you

start doing 500 to 1, 000 per month.

Marketing director seller.

That's what I would start looking at.

CRM anything less than that.

You can probably, you know,

use Google sheets, notepad.

David Pere: I would agree with that.

And I would, I would, the only thing

I would add to that is that I think

if you're Goal and or vision is to be

doing 500 to a thousand plus, like if

you're, if you are content where you're

at and you don't plan on growing and

then whatever, but if you know you're

going to be growing it and you're going

to get to that point, you might as

well start using the CRM ahead of time.

So you don't have to transfer

stuff and get used to it before,

before you get a little too busy.

Sharad Mehta: Yeah, exactly.

And then, yeah, the better systems you

have from the beginning, the more ROI

you'll see down the road, hands down.

David Pere: Absolutely.

I agree.

And I re simply is, you know, we'll

definitely, we'll link down below

to re simply, but it is my, my

favorite, my go to CRM for sure.

Um, all right.

So the rest of the questions

are just kind of some, some

goofy, some, you know, whatever.

So the, the second question I

always ask is what's the dumbest

thing you've ever purchased?

Sharad Mehta: Oh man, dumbest thing.

Oh, that's a great question.

I'm sure my wife will have a

long list of those things that

are dumbest things I purchased.

Oh, it's funny.

I was talking about this yesterday.

I bought a house.

It came with a Corvette.

It had a Corvette in the garage.

Really old one.

I'm not even into cars, but it just

the car was like red look great.

I paid like 6000 or

7000 for a super cheap.

I had it shipped from Indiana.

To California, and then it turns out

I was going to need another 20, 000

into it, plus I would have to deal

with California, like, you know, smog

regulations and everything, so I ended

up like just basically scrapping the car.

That was like the dumbest thing.

Yeah, yeah, that I can think of.

I'm sure there's a lot, but that's the

one that comes to the top of my mind.

David Pere: Cars, cars seem to be a

common answer, but usually it's a.

Sharad Mehta: I'm not,

I'm not even into cars.

You know, that's, that's the crazy thing.

I'm not even into car.

I just, I just kind of

got like carried away.

And my house is a nice looking car.

I'm buying the house.

Might as well buy the car.

David Pere: I love that.

I had a buddy who, um, he bought a

bunch of apartment complexes and The

owner had like a onsite, you know,

single family that they lived in.

They'd like built all these, uh, like two

or three apartment buildings behind them.

And, uh, the owner's husband had

passed away and it was, you know,

he'd always run the business.

And so he had a, he had a workshop that

he never went into and, or she never

went into and she sells everything.

And, uh, as they're negotiating,

they're doing due diligence.

They find that in the workshop is

an old, like 1990s, you know, gated.

Shifter Ferrari, that's just been

sitting there collecting dust and

she was just like, I don't even care.

Just take it with the property.

So I don't know if it ended up being

something that he was able to get, you

know, working or, or anything, but I

was like, that's a pretty cool find.

Yeah.

Um, what would you say is the

smartest purchase you've ever made?

Sharad Mehta: Should have

anticipated this question.

Uh, uh, uh, I would say like,

for me, it was, Books, um, like

reading, I, the book that comes

to my mind is Dave Ramsey's book.

It's, it doesn't apply to me anymore.

You know, it's like when I was first

starting out, but the total money

makeover that kind of gave me a shift, a

mind shift on how to think about money.

I think that was pretty influential.

And then the, uh, and the book, um,

millionaire real estate investor

kind of got me started on my journey.

Um, Um, so I would say those

two, those two books, uh, total

money makeover by Dave Ramsey.

That just, that was, that

was a good, really good book.

David Pere: I like the, you

alluded to you and I clearly feel

the same way about Dave Ramsey.

Your, your response was, uh, you know,

you've kind of grown past that, but

I always tell people I'm like, man,

you know, Dave is great to get you

from, you know, negative to zero.

And then at some point you

go, okay, this isn't the way

that you build wealth quickly.

Yeah.

Maybe.

I mean, it's, it's definitely

smart to be more frugal than

the alternative, but yeah.

Yeah.

Well, my next question was

going to be about books that you

have read that you recommend.

I think we just covered that.

So if someone's listening to the show

instead of just tuning into the next

podcast episode after this, if they're

wanting to, you know, really better their

financial situation, what do you think?

They should take as their

next actionable step.

Sharad Mehta: Oh, man.

It's a really great questions.

Um, for me, honestly, like the,

I would say most important thing

would be start with a budget.

You know, you can, you can

create a free account on mint.

com and there's like plenty of, you know,

tools out there that you can link up.

Just know how much money is coming

in and how much money is going out.

Right.

And then.

Okay.

Another really good book that I read

was the richest man in Babylon, right?

Just like put 10 percent

of your money aside, right?

Just start doing that and then have the

rest of the money available for spending.

I think starting with the budget

would be the first thing I would

do if you're not doing that.

Just know how much money is

coming in, how much money is going

out and what it's going out to.

I mean, I, I was like, when I.

Because back in the day, you know, my

wife and I, we were, we were making

decent money, you know, six figures,

so like 2008, 9, 10, but we like really

bought into the Dave Ramsey and we would

literally have envelopes for different,

you know, like buckets, groceries, um,

you know, and other stuff like that

building household stuff and whatnot.

Like we would have, yeah,

exactly, exactly, exactly.

So just because.

That's, we wanted to have that forced

discipline and it was, it was fantastic,

but it started with the budget

knowing, okay, we have 500 to spend on

groceries, for example, for this month.

This is all the money

we have in the envelope.

There's no more.

We have a hundred bucks to spend on

entertainment, movies, whatever, you know,

and then we would just stick to that.

I think that gave us a good foundation

moving forward as our income went

up, that we kind of still had

those, you know, discipline mindset.

David Pere: That's a great answer.

I, I need to, I've been telling

myself I should probably go back and

revisit the envelopes a little bit.

Um, cause I, I, uh, you know, as the

business grows, I've, I've definitely

been, uh, at least a little bit

guilty of, of lifestyle creep with,

with eating out and things like that.

I definitely haven't gone.

Uh, too overboard, but, uh, it would be

sometimes I'm like, man, you know, if I

just went back to this, I'd imagine how

much money I'd be able to save and invest.

So

Sharad Mehta: the only thing I didn't

like about the envelope system or the

coins on the change that you would get,

David Pere: I, uh, I just had like

a big vat that I just throw them in.

I'm like, Oh yeah, I'll go, you know,

and then of course I go to Walmart

with this massive thing and I come

out with like 70 bucks worth of.

Sharad Mehta: Oh yeah, I used to do that.

Yep.

You go to that coin machine, put all

your pennies, quarters and everything,

which just give you like a Walmart,

you know, gift card or something.

And you could use, you

know, I used to love that.

David Pere: Yeah.

And inevitably I find some coin

from some other country in there.

So I'll throw it through like

two or three times and realize

it's not even us currency.

Sharad Mehta: It doesn't.

Yeah.

David Pere: Oh man.

So where can people find you if

they'd like to link up with you

and, or, um, you know, resimpli.

Sharad Mehta: Yeah.

So I'm not an Instagram or.

Any social media platform.

I mean, I do have a Facebook account,

but I pretty much use it for our, you

know, Facebook community that we have.

But the best would be email, my

first name's sharad@resimpli.com.

That would be the best way

to get in touch with me.

Uh, I, I still check my emails,

I reply to my emails, uh, so

yeah, that would be the best way.

And then course, if they want to

learn more about recently, they

can go to R-E-S-I-M-P-L-I.com.

David Pere: Which we will absolutely

link down below in the show notes

and, uh, be pointing people towards

as I, as I always do for a CRM.

So, well, that's great.

Sharad, thank you so much

for joining us today.

Sharad Mehta: This has been a lot of fun.

Absolutely, man.

Yeah.

Thank you, David, for having me on this.

You've asked some really,

really great question.

Took me back to my, you know, back to my

accounting slash personal finance day.

So yeah.

Great, great interview.

David Pere: Well, good.

I appreciate you.