February 23, 2024
“Multifamily real estate deals are a financial product I love––that’s why my family and I are personally heavily invested.”
Lennon Lee has been raising capital for multifamily projects and looking after investors for nearly a decade. He’s just joined the Investor Relations team at Ashcroft to “help investors better navigate deals and strategy.” Lennon observes, “times like these can be challenging and even scary for investors, so I will be on top of their questions and concerns. Investor education is something that I’m very passionate about.”
Real Estate is a Family Tradition
Due to ongoing political unrest in their native Venezuela, Lennon and his family relocated multiple times between their South American residence and the United States.
“We always had some single family properties in Venezuela. My mom told me her grandfather always said that the goal was to live off the rent. He owned some retail shops in the small town where we’re from. So, my mom and dad always knew they wanted to take whatever little bit of money they had and park it somewhere, somehow in real estate.”
Lennon remembers visiting the U.S. frequently with his family. “We like this country a lot, and we understand exactly what it means for us in terms of safety––personal, fiscal, and judicial. Investing here was a way for us to protect capital.”
“My parents were always hard workers,” he remembers. “And as a family, we asked how we could protect what we have and try to make it grow. That was the thought process when I came to Miami and my family put me in charge of managing the portfolio.”
After completing his graduate degree, Lennon says, “I really didn’t want to do the nine-to-five, so I decided to go the real estate route and became a realtor. I started educating myself through books and countless hours listening to podcasts. That’s how I heard about Joe. I knew he was doing exactly what I wanted to do.” This inspired Lennon to contact Joe Fairless and further his real estate career.
“I started working with Joe as a student of his program. Then I began investing as an LP on a few deals. That ultimately led me to start my own private equity company,” he says. “I also started a podcast in Spanish called Se Habla Real Estate, educating investors on multifamily and real estate in general.”
Lennon says he was eager to put all this experience to work in his new position at Ashcroft, where he plans to level up his knowledge and make a positive impact on even more investors.
“I wanted to bring my experience and expertise to a company with a bigger structure and a larger base of investors to further develop my career as an investor relations manager.”
Bringing Multifamily Deals to New Audiences
His unique experience as an immigrant investor led to Lennon’s love affair with multifamily projects and syndications. Sharing his story has inspired countless new investors to embark on their own real estate investment journey.
“For us in Latin America, if you want to protect your capital, there’s no security in our countries, generally speaking. The main idea when an investor like us comes to this country and wants to invest in real estate is capital preservation––making sure your money is placed in a safe haven,” Lennon explains. “What that typically looks like for us is buying a few condos or a house in South Florida and renting them. But after spending a few years here and managing our properties, I started to understand how difficult it was to do it all myself. Even our small portfolio started taking a lot of my time,” he recalls.
“Eventually I saw there were other avenues that were more attractive not just in terms of capital preservation, but maximizing capital. I wanted to see how we could achieve cash flow by putting our money somewhere where we don’t depend on the market to see the property value go up, but we can actually control it.”
Lennon found the answer in commercial real estate. “In commercial real estate, you might have the exact same property that I have, but at the end of the day, it’s a business. If I manage my business better (reduce expenses, optimize operations), my property is going to be more valuable, and I will increase my income. That, to me, was an eye opener.”
Reasons to Believe in Multifamily Real Estate Investing
Lennon’s commercial real estate endeavors led him to the multifamily asset class. “It caught my attention because it was easy to understand. Everyone needs a roof over their head. Then, there’s steady immigration, Millennials and Gen Z starting to create households, and Boomers retiring and downsizing. So at the macro level, it’s an asset class that I think is going to be very strong long term. And the passive [income] component is just so attractive.”
For Lennon, what really matters is working with the right partner––especially since he advises his parents and sister on their financial future.
“It’s a matter of building trust and understanding the track record. If the team has proven they’re able to execute, then they’re probably going to do a better job than you will on your own.”
When it comes to his own future, Lennon is confident that his investment strategy can lead to “total financial freedom,” allowing him to pursue other passions like travel, high-stakes poker, advising entrepreneurs, and starting a family of his own.
If you would like to learn more about investing in multifamily assets or our current offering, Lennon would love to connect with you.
Lennon is just one of our 3,000+ investors. Hear what passive income has meant to over 100 of our investors.
