The pandemic has shaken economies around the world, flooding sectors with uncertainty as unemployment and trade lulls become commonplace. But if you can look beyond the chaos and madness, and focus on the data, you will see the incredible opportunities that lie ahead. Today’s guest is universally known in real estate circles as the Mad Scientist of Multifamily —Neal Bawa.

Have you ever tried to raise capital by going to an event but got kinda stuck when you were there and didn’t quite know what to say or how to pull people into your deal…? If this sounds like something you’ve experienced then this podcast episode will help you to improve the situation and find some new confidence.

Neal Bawa is CEO / Founder at Grocapitus, a commercial real estate investment company. Neal sources, negotiates and acquires Commercial properties across the U.S., for nearly 500 investors. Current portfolio over 2000 units, projected to be at 3000 units in 12 months.Neal also serves as CEO at MultifamilyU, an apartment investing Education Company. He speaks at events & meet-ups across the country. Nearly 5,000 students attend his multifamily webinar series each year and hundreds attend his Magic of Multifamily boot camps. Neal is the co-founder of the MultifamilyU Investing Meetup network, a group of investors that has over 4000 members.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you already know that COVID has disrupted every sector and every facet of our economy. As real estate investors and entrepreneurs, we have not been exempted from the impacts of COVID by any means and yet, there still remains a high degree of uncertainty as to what will happen as we begin to move into the post-COVID world, presumably.

The Mad Scientist lives by two mantras. His first mantra is that We can only manage what we can measure. His second mantra is that Data beats gut feel by a million miles. These mantras and a dozen other disruptive beliefs drive profit for his 300+ investors.

Neal Bawa, the founder of Grocapitus, has built an immense empire of 3,000 units with nearly 40,000 students studying his data-driven approach. In today’s episode, Neal dives into the key advantages and disadvantages of investing in Chicago compared to other major metros. He also provides his thoughts on opportunity zones, including the major benefits of OZs and why some are destined to fail. Being centered on data, he gives a deep dive into economic factors influencing Chicago, the individual investor, and the real estate market as a whole. Lastly, Neal explains how “churn” is the hidden expense you need to be accounting for.