 Are you a young real estate investor who's feeling a little bit uninspired? Don't you worry, we've got you covered. Today we'll be talking everything property and how to become the best property investor in the game. This is the Private Property Podcast. My name is Hetty the Entrepreneur and a very warm welcome to you all. Today's guest is one of South Africa's most powerful real estate agents. He is the CEO of Black Real Estate. In 2012 he joined Black Brain Group, a television product company as a executive director for sales marketing and strategy. Talk about a jack of all trades. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Titi Mba. A very warm welcome to you Titi. I'm really excited to be chatting to you this evening. Thank you. Thank you for having me and hello to everybody watching this man. I'm quite excited to share the little that I know in the space. What an honor to be selected man and I appreciate it. Thank you. Wonderful. So you have got quite an illustrious career. Let's start at the very beginning. Take us back to when it all started. At what point did you decide to start investing in real estate? So my love for real estate has always been there from a young age. Growing up in the township, you know, one of the things we used to enjoy doing was walking around the township and just, you know, marveling at corner houses. There was this whole fetish about corner houses and we always dreamt that one day we will be able to afford to stay in one. You know, there was this big perception in the townships that if you lived in a corner house, you were deemed rich or wealthy. It just came with that, you know, whether you were or not was immaterial. You know, you stayed in a corner house, big doors, big windows. So I think my love for real estate actually, you know, emanated from that point on onwards where I used to actually enjoy walking around. And then when I, you know, graduated for my first degree in clothing management, my uncle actually, you know, decided to gift me with a townhouse in terms of, you know, saying, you know, you've done well. He has a townhouse for you to kind of, you know, get started and whatnot. So I had a little bit of an advantage. But instead of me actually living in the townhouse, I actually leased it out to two students. It was a two bedroom apartment I remember at the time. And the one day he came to visit me randomly to surprise me only to find two people staying there. Then he gave me a call and he was like, who are these people? So I tried to, you know, lie my way around it up to a point where I had to come clean with him and say, look, you know, I decided to make some extra cash and still stay at home. And that's where my entrepreneurial flair in real estate actually started. You know, I had these two tenants that were paying me and I was still staying at home and paying less to nothing. You know, and from then on, I started obviously growing my portfolio of properties and assets and so forth. So yeah, that's how it started. I absolutely love that story. And I'm sure your uncle must have been a bit annoyed, but look, it's definitely paid off. Now tell me, I love the fact that you marry the investing in property with entrepreneurship. So what challenges did you face when you launched Black Real Estate? Sure. So I had so many challenges. First of all, you know, real estate is an industry that is dominated by white people. Let's be honest, you know, 90% of estate agents in South Africa are white. And, you know, most of them have been operating in the space for years. So one of the challenges that I experienced is obviously in terms of the barrier to entry into the space was that there were not enough mentors around for me to kind of, you know, go and make reference to. You know, I had to work with these white estate agents at the time and kind of learn from what they were doing, whether I was learning the correct things or not was really not by choice. You know, I had to kind of go in there and swim with the sharks. And I think that's one of the reasons why I decided to get into the space, number one. Number two, I deliberately created the name Black Real Estate because I wanted to show the world that Black people can actually thrive in the space if they apply their minds to it and if they are given the same opportunities, you know, given the history of our country. So, of course, in 2014, 2015, I embarked on this journey where I had to start as an intern, estate agent working for an estate agency. You have to do that for a year where you kind of grasp the ins and outs of the industry. And this year of internship is actually quite crucial because it's a make or break. You could get despondent because in that year, you're not really making money, you know. So you've got to be able to have the finances to carry you in that year but also have the fortitude to create the opportunity so that when you finish that internship, you can get straight into writing that board exam and passing and establishing your own setup. So my challenge was, of course, to be able to sustain myself for that year was not easy, you know. But fortunately, I had, you know, the right vision and the right plan to kind of make sure that in that year, I'm able to sustain myself because like I said, I wasn't getting paid. And I think that's the greatest barrier to entry in the space for a lot of Black people is the fact that it's a commission-based environment. There's no salary, you know. There's no way that you can survive if you don't have savings that will last you that long. And also, it's a patience game. It's a game of patience. It's a game of planning. It's not a quick win. A lot of people think they can just come into the space and make the quick back and run. Here, you've got to pay and earn your dues. You've got to earn your stripes. You've got to put in the work. You've got to put in the hours. I mean, I work crazy hours. You know, when a lot of people are sleeping, I'm obviously grinding and making sure that, you know, I push the sales. It's about creating leads. It's about understanding the fact that you are servicing a market and once you've got that market locked down, you need to maintain it. So those are some of the challenges. I think that the biggest challenge is financial, of course, because, you know, we come from very disadvantaged backgrounds as Black people and you've got to do with what you have or the little you have. You know, Titi, your story is incredibly inspiring and I think that hindsight is definitely 2020. What do you know now that you wish you knew before you began on your property journey? Well, first of all, I wish I'd started this journey earlier. I think I would have been much more versatile, much more agile to take on bigger risks. I started, of course, a little bit late in my journey of life, but also the advantage of that for me came with the fact that I went into the space with a lot of corporate experience, a lot of entrepreneurial experience. I had already made my mistakes, but when I look back, you know, I honestly wouldn't have changed a single thing. I think the mistakes that are made were necessary for me to get to where I am. I think, you know, as a people, we always want to perfect everything when there's no need to. We're living in an imperfect world where you can perfect your craft and your art as you learn and as you make the mistakes. And I think those mistakes have taught me to be able to help others, not to make the same mistakes that I made. I mean, in my first year of internship and after graduating, I made a lot of errors. I made a lot of legal mistakes, a lot of costly mistakes that cost me my commission. And now that I look back, I'm grateful for those mistakes because I'll never make them again, right? You know, it's one bit in twice shy kind of approach where I am grateful for the mistakes because they're helping me to move forward into a different territory. It's like if you have a scar, you know, and you try to go for surgery to close it, you can close the scar, but it doesn't change the fact that you had a scar and that scar represents a journey in your life. And that's how I look at the mistake that I've made in real estate. And I look forward to making more mistakes. Yeah, it sounds weird. I know, but I'm looking forward to making more mistakes that I can actually correct as I go and help others. They always say, lift others as your eyes. Absolutely. And I think it actually also reminds me of that saying that, you know, you fail forward. You just have to keep moving forward and failing forward. You know, TT, right now, somebody's watching you and thinking, my goodness, I'm so inspired. I want to be able to follow in TT's footsteps. As your final closing remarks, what words would you leave for the young people that are watching you right now? So, hey, you young person out there watching right now, you have the world at your oyster. You know, the world is your stage. You guys are so privileged to have so many opportunities that none of us had when we were once young as a youth. You guys have got the gift and the blessing of technology. Use it to your advantage. Put yourself out there. Be strategic about your intentions, you know. Social media is a big, big, big engine that can elevate your brand to the next level. Use it for the right reasons. Follow the right people. Follow the right content. Create the right content. And through that, you'll be able to see a world that is just out there that is made for you. Live a positive life. Research everything that you want to get into. Don't do it because someone else told you it's cool to do it. Find out more. Do your own homework. But be a step ahead of others. You've got a lot of other peers that are competing for that same spot. So, we have no excuse because I always tell people in my business, I'm only as good as my last transaction. I'm only as good as my last deal. With every deal I celebrate, but I don't celebrate for too long because I know there's someone else that's trying to boot me off my position of authority. So, go out there, research, be firm in what you believe in, and stand your ground. Good luck. All the best. You deserve everything that's coming your way. Asmongi. Danko. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the phenomenal T-Team bar. And I'm sure you can see why he has such an amazing following online, because of the positivity that he brings to us on a daily basis. TT, thank you so much. Thank you so much. And thank you to Private Property for this property podcast. It's really something that I wish can grow tenfold. Thank you so much. Private Property family, share with us within the comment section what you have learned from TT today. What an incredible and amazing property investor as well as entrepreneur. Now, before we wrap up, here are a few things to avoid as you go along on your property investing journey. These are the property no-nos. Stop making excuses. Young people often blame their laziness to get started on a lack of resources. Lack of capital and resources should never be an excuse when there's so much information available. Stop letting poor credit get in the way. We've seen most young people get demotivated because of poor credit resources. Do your homework if you don't understand how to improve your credit score. Stop doing everything on your own. Get a network of people you can rely on such as real estate agents, attorneys, and insurance agents. These are all necessary. They will help you to steer away from future problems. Stop thinking short-term. Many first-time investors purchase property without considering their long-term needs. As a result, they end up buying properties that are not adaptive to change. Stop buying emotionally. Young investors are often swayed by emotions and convenience. Know your strategy. Investing for the sake of investing is a bad idea. We hope that you found these no-nos to be useful in your future investing endeavors. Now don't forget to let us know which no-no really resonated with you the most. Let us know within the comment section private property family. Now is time for your most favorite segment of the show. We are going to announce the winner of the 500 grand prize for the most interaction. Now to make things a little bit more interesting this evening, we are going to refer you to the comment section in order for you to actually find out our winner. Can you guess who it is? Check out the comment section to see who our winner is. Now don't forget to join us tomorrow for yet another insight-packed episode. Don't forget to like, share, and follow all of our social media platforms. And remember a healthy dose of property information might just be what you need to get back onto your A-game. This is the Private Property Podcast. My name is Hetty the Entrepreneur. Goodbye.