SCF 41 | Building A Brand

 

Once Morad Fiki was discharged from the military, he immediately jumped into real estate investing with the goal of building a brand. The idea that you can buy huge assets that will pay you forever is too great to pass up. And Morad fell in love with multifamily investing and making passive income. Now, Morad is set on building his brand in Houston as the #1 Real Estate Expert on Social Media in Texas.

Join Dale Corpus as he talks to Morad about his real estate journey. Find out how he helps people who feel stuck in their careers find greatness within themselves. Learn why social media is important and key in real estate. Discover the mindset required to succeed in real estate today!

Watch the episode here

 

Listen to the podcast here


 

Growing Your Real Estate Investing Business By Building A Brand With Morad Fiki

Happy Thanksgiving, as it is Thanksgiving in 2022 at least the time I am recording this. I’m grateful for all my audience and guests and for all the relationships I’ve formed by doing this. It’s been a great community. I’m going to keep moving forward with it because it’s been a blessing in disguise. I have a great guest for you. His name is Morad Fiki. He’s on a mission to inspire 10 million real estate professionals, associated services, and providers to grow their businesses to six figures and beyond so that they can make a greater impact on their lives, families, and communities.

A cool tidbit about him is that he went from a teen runaway to a luxury realtor. He’s the number one real estate expert on social media in Texas. He’s been awarded Top 1.4% Real Estate Agents in the US with Real Estate Trends for over $100 million in real estate sales. He’s also a dad and a real estate investor. It’s a pleasure to bring him on. Without further ado, welcome to the show, Morad. How are you?

Thank you so much. What a kind introduction. I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

It is Thanksgiving. Are you ready?

I don’t know. My wife’s been handling everything. She’s doing such an incredible job. We got a bunch of food that we ordered. It’s going to make everything so much easier than having to cook all this food. It’s too much.

I didn’t think I was going to ask this, but I might as well ask this in the spirit of Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? Is there anything that comes to mind?

It’s so great because we need to pause and reflect upon what are we grateful for. We should all be doing that. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t reflect on being grateful as much as I should, so that’s a great question. Thanks for that. I’m grateful for everybody who’s supported my business over the years.

I look back and in 2023, it will be ten years that I’ve been in this business of real estate. I was discharged from active duty in the US Navy service on February 2013. In February 2023, it will be ten years. It’s been an incredible ride. I wouldn’t be where I’m at if it wasn’t for my friends, fans, supporters, and everybody who’s championed my business. I’m so grateful. It means the world to me. This is how I provide for my family and hopefully have an impact on people here in Houston, Texas.

When you started your real estate career, was it always in Houston, or did you start somewhere else? Tell me about that.

I’m from Houston. I was born in Laramie but raised in Houston, Texas. To me, Houston is my home. I joined the military twice from Houston. I joined the Marines fresh out of high school. I enlisted when I was still in high school, and then I joined the Navy when I was in college. I love Houston. I love to travel, but Houston is home for me. I started my business here in Houston and have been working in the entire greater Houston Metropolitan area for the last couple of years.

One of the interesting things in your bio is that you were a teen runaway. What were you running away from?

My parents divorced when I was seven. My mom is from Venezuela and my father is from Egypt. They’re both immigrants. I’m a first-generation American citizen. My parents immigrated to the US. Their marriage didn’t make it, so my dad left. I never saw him again. He went back to Egypt. My mom ended up remarrying into an extremely abusive marriage. They would fight every single day. It was ridiculous. I was calling the cops pretty much every day to come to arrest my stepfather.

When I was sixteen, I had it. They loved beating each other up every day and I couldn’t take it. There was no stability and no security. It felt horrible being in that house, so I bolted. I left and I never looked back. I was sleeping on my friends’ couches in the last year and a half of high school. I was sleeping from couch to couch. I didn’t even drop out. I was like, “I’m going to finish high school.” It taught me a lot about life, perseverance, determination, and dedication. It was rough, but it made me a little bit tough.

Those are quite the skillsets we need to be an entrepreneur, in general, to be able to grind it out and stick with it. That’s amazing. How did you transition from the military to becoming a realtor? I’m a realtor, too. For me, it seemed to happen. It fell in place, but it was nothing that I ever thought I’d end up doing as an adult. It made sense at the time when the opportunity came.

I heard someone else say, “Nobody was in elementary school thinking, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a realtor.’”

I don’t know anybody that says that. Real estate is something that feels like it happens to you.

The majority of us come from other walks of life.

We have different backgrounds and professions. I came from being an engineer.

I know doctors who are realtors. I know lawyers. I’m sure you know lawyers.

I know a lot of people.

You name it. I know home inspectors who are realtors. How did I become a realtor? I was always interested in real estate. When I was in college, I would read all of Donald Trump’s books, like The Art of the Deal. This was way before he was into politics. I was interested in how he became wealthy through real estate specifically. I would read Robert Kiyosaki’s books. One is Rich Dad Poor Dad, which is a classic. I would read a ton of real estate books.

People would come and do these seminars on real estate. I would go to all of them. They’re like, “Here is a free ticket. Here is $50.” It was to pitch you another program or something, but I wanted to learn real estate. This is why I was doing my undergrad degree. I was like, “I probably need to get my real estate license. If I get my real estate license, then I’ll know real estate.” This is what I was thinking.

They don’t teach you anything in real estate school, but I was like, “If I get my real estate license, then I’ll know real estate and I can get rich.” It didn’t happen like that, but I got my license during college. I went straight into the US Navy, so I didn’t have a chance to practice real estate. I knew it was something I could fall back on if my career in the Military didn’t work out. That’s what ended up happening. I dove right in when I was honorably discharged.

I’m noticing a lot of people sometimes would rather be a real estate investor per se than say, “I want to be a realtor,” especially when they read a Rich Dad Poor Dad type of book by Kiyosaki. Where did you fit in? Did you say, “I know for sure I want to be a realtor?” I know you’re an investor as well, but where did you fall along the lines?

Another thing I was thinking when I was in college was, “Invest what?”

That’s all of us. I was like, “Invest with a negative bank account?”

I was like, “If somebody will take me as an investor, that would be great. I’m right here.” In these seminars I would go to, they would say, “Get into real estate with no cash, no credit, no job, and no income.” It’s a hook to get you in, but I was like, “I could probably sell homes on the side or do it as a side gig while I go to school. I can make money and make a living from selling homes, which would eventually lead me to invest and develop.” That’s how I got started. I knew I become a realtor, I can learn real estate while making money, and then that can lead to other things.

SCF 41 | Building A Brand

Building A Brand: If you become a realtor, you can learn real estate while you make money. That can then lead to other things like investing or development.

 

I had a similar philosophy, too. We do a lot of similar things. I had that core interest in everything related to real estate and still do. It’s that excitement of everything. In real estate, there are so many things you could tap into. There are so many income streams that you could create in the different avenues. It is so exciting. It never gets boring.

When I first got started, I was thinking about rental houses. I was then like, “I would love to build some homes,” which I’ve done, too. The space I am in love with is multifamily apartment investing and making passive income cashflow. I didn’t even know about that. I hadn’t even thought about that when I was in real estate school. I had no idea. Learning that you can buy these huge assets, which will pay you forever, is such an incredible philosophy.

It’s good. Speaking of the fact that you are a realtor and that you invest, not many realtors invest and not many realtors, for that matter, save. Many live commission to commission. I know a good amount of them. It’s amazing that you’ve got yourself self-education and you even know what syndication is.

I’m in the Bay Area. A lot of realtors here don’t even know what the idea of syndication is, let alone the idea of real estate investing. It’s nice knowing that other realtors are tapping into investing and also teaching other folks how to be successful, build their businesses, and also grow wealth. I can relate to you in all that stuff. I wanted to ask you what your first real estate investment was. My show has a lot to do with real estate investing and mindset, which is what I want to dig more into. What was your first real estate investment?

It was a flip. I did a flip. It wasn’t a big flip. It landed on my lap. I had no idea about flipping, wholesaling, or rehabbing homes. I’ve been selling homes for a few years. There was a friend of mine who is also an estate attorney. A gentleman had passed away and his daughter was coming from New York to liquidate all his assets. He said, “You should call Morad Fiki. He’s amazing. He’ll help you out.”

She called me and told me, “My dad passed away. I’m coming to Houston.” This was on a Monday. She was like, “I’m coming to Houston on Friday. I’m going to sell everything. I’m not putting this house on the market. I’m not doing inspections and BS. I want a cash offer on Friday. So-and-so told me you were great. I’m coming here Friday. I’m going to sell everything. I want this house sold in a week or two. I’m not putting it on the market.” I was like, “Okay.”

She gave me a few days to think about it because I was like, “She doesn’t want to put it on the market. She doesn’t want me to market it. She just wants a cash offer. I can buy it, but I can’t pay retail.” I told her that. When I met with her on Friday, she was like, “Do you have someone who will buy this?” I said, “I’ll buy it, but I can’t pay retail for the house.”

The house needed a ton of work. He had passed away in the house and had been there for a few days before they found him. There were bio people doing stuff. It was hard. There was no AC in there and there was a ton of stuff. I was like, “I got to do a ton of work to this.” She was like, “That’s great. Make me an offer.” I was like, “I can do $70,000 or $75,000.” She was like, “For $75,000, it is sold.” I should have said $70,000 but I said, “I can do $70,000 or $75,000,” so she said, “For $75,000, it is sold. Do you have the paperwork to sign?” I was like, “Let me run to the office. I’ll be right back.”

That’s how it landed on my lap. I ended up spinning about $21,000 fixing it up. I sold it in 90 days for $148,000. It was a great learning experience. That was my first investment. I had to line up the financing. I had to line up the contractors. I had to do all that. It was great. It was a great deal. It worked out. I said, “I need to do more of this.”

How did you even get connected to the world of syndications? Was it through networking? Was it through podcasts?

That was great. I started following Grant Cardone back in 2019. He was the first one who was talking about passive income and making money while you sleep. I know we’ve all heard Warren Buffett say, “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you’ll work till you die.” He resonated with him. I’m talking about buying real estate and taking his earned income when he wakes up.

He gets out of bed every day, takes that, and buys a piece of real estate that will pay him forever. It’s like, “Wow.” It was so interesting. I ended up going to another boot camp of his. That was my first multifamily deal. I invested in one of his deals and it’s paid me since 2019 every single month. I was like, “This is great.” I learned about that.

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Building A Brand: You can invest in your first multifamily deal, and it can end up paying you every single month.

 

Since I know that you’re connected to Grant Cardone, do you go to the 10X conferences?

Yeah. I’ve been to it every year since 2019. This 2023 will be my fifth consecutive year.

I’ve been to one 10X conference. It was either in 2018 or 2019. It was in Vegas. He always has them in Vegas.

That was in 2020.

Flo Rida was performing. Were you there?

I was there. 2019 was in Miami. 2020 was in Vegas. 2021 was in Miami, which was right after COVID. 2022 was in Miami. In 2023, it is going to be in Vegas again.

Switching back to your local real estate market over in Texas, how is the state of the real estate market out of there?

It’s tightened up a little bit. I’m sure you’ve seen it, too. We have lost about 40% of the buyers due to the interest rates doubling in about 180 days. It’s ridiculous. I’ve never seen this in my career. I’ve been in the business for many years. This is the first time that interest rates have risen this much this fast. It is happening on an impact. It’s tightening the market up a little bit, but homes are still selling. In fact, we got three sales that are closing. People think, “Homes aren’t selling.” Homes are selling. It’s just that sellers need to be a lot more honest about pricing. They’re not getting the 15% or 20% premium they were in 2021.

With sellers on my side, and I’m sure it’s the same on your side, a lot more education is involved so that they know what to expect. They need to be prepared for incentives. Seller incentives were unheard of in my area for the last couple of years. Buying down the interest rates for the buyers is a thing and it works. I’m sure you’re doing similar tactics out of it there in your area, too.

I did a video about a 2-1 rate buy-down. That’s starting to get popular as also permanent rate buy-downs, which are available if you are willing to buy down the points. There are a few different options available.

You’re running a team over there. Out of curiosity, since we’re both running real estate teams, what is your focus on generating business? Has it changed even from the beginning of 2022 with how you guys are approaching and going about getting business?

Definitely. Real estate is a contact sport. I tell new agents, “You’ve got to make contacts turn into contracts.” The other thing which Grant taught me is that the best-known product will always beat the best product. We’ve seen this time and again with various companies. Microsoft beat Apple, a superior product for twenty-plus years because Microsoft was more widely known. That’s the big thing. The best-known product will always win. How are you getting known? How are you getting exposed? How are you getting your name out there? How are you meeting people? How many people are you talking to every single day?

Real estate is a contact sport. You've got to make contacts turn into contracts. Click To Tweet

You’d be surprised how many realtors wake up with no plan whatsoever. They’re at the behest of the universe and are like, “Whatever happens to me today, I’m going to mosey on around and see if some business finds me.” That’s not realistic. No business succeeds like that. You’ve got to be intentional. You’ve got to be deliberate. You’ve got to get out there. You got to make an impact. You got to make contacts. You got to go network. You got to meet people. That’s being in sales.

It’s like I always tell agents, too. For the newer ones, it’s like, “If you’re trying to be a secret agent and not tell people that you’re in the business, why isn’t your social media even talking about that you’re in the business? You can even start there. You want as many people to know that you’re in this.” The contacts are the lifeline of your business. It’s interesting.

Speaking of which, I know that you’re heavy on social media, which is great. I am loving the fact that you’re doing all that stuff. It is a full-time job running social media. I love social media because you’re able to be present and be on everybody’s feeds. They’re going to see you. They’re going to know who you are. You’re creating that brand. Out of curiosity, when did you start utilizing social media and take it very seriously?

I learned from Grant and then other influencers that have huge social media followings that social media is an amplifier. It allows me to amplify my message and get my message out to the masses. There is nothing wrong with making phone calls. If I’m making a phone call and I have a half-hour conversation, it’s great. I got to connect with someone, but that’s with one person. I can put out a video on my Instagram where I have almost 200,000 followers. I can hit everybody at one time and let people see what resonates with me. People are going to be attracted to people they resonate with.

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Building A Brand: Social media is an amplifier. It amplifies your message to the masses. Instead of making one-on-one phone calls, you can just post a video for your 200,000 followers.

 

The great thing about social media is that it condenses the timeframe. What might take me 2 to 3 years to get to know someone intimately and on a personal level, in social media, within 60 to 90 days, people feel like they know you if you’re utilizing it appropriately. You’ve got to put content out. You’ve got to be authentic. You’ve got to let people in.

I coach a number of agents. I tell them this, “Don’t be the guy who’s only talking about real estate and telling everyone you’re a realtor. People know that. Let people in.” When you come on my social media, you’re like, “Who is Morad Fiki?” What do I stand for? What do I like? What is my personality? I want to let people into my world and become a part of my life. That’s what it is.

I hear some people say, “There’s no privacy in social media.” That’s the whole point. If you’re going to be in sales, you’ve got to get out there. Social media is an amplifier. It was not made to be private. Privacy is gone. Privacy is over. When people are like, “There’s no privacy. I don’t like that people can find me and know what I’m doing,” if you’re on social media, that’s the whole point.

How has social media elevated your business? Are there any stories, things, or opportunities that came up that you could directly pinpoint because of social media?

100%. I’m getting people reaching out to me on TikTok. I had a guy from Twitter call me because he didn’t like his real estate agent. He said, “She’s not doing anything. I saw you on Twitter. I saw what you’re doing. I see you’re very active. Can you help me sell my house?” I didn’t know the guy. This came straight from Twitter. I’ve had the same effect on Facebook. I’ve had people find me on Facebook and find me on Instagram. I had an investor buying a luxury house in Colorado reach out to me on Instagram. He wanted some advice. I told him what I thought.

I was heading to Vegas for a hard money lender conference. A friend of mine had invited me. I was going and he was like, “I’ll meet you up there.” I never met the guy. I forgot what hotel we were staying at, but we met for lunch. We had a great lunch and discussed ideas. He’s a big real estate investor. He is someone very influential that would be great to meet. I met him off Instagram.

These are the things that social media does. It connects people that wouldn’t otherwise know each other. I have someone even here in Houston. She moved to Houston from London. She wanted some advice on real estate and we ended up jumping on a phone call. She follows me on Instagram. That’s the power of social media. It’s great. I’m meeting people that I would otherwise never likely have met.

There was already that automatic trust when they reach out to you, which is what I would do, too.

They’re like, “I love your videos. How’s the family?” It’s crazy because I never met them, but they know a lot about me from social media.

What’s your favorite type of content to put out? Do you have a certain type of content that you like to consistently put out on social media?

I love putting out motivational content. I love letting people into my life and also talking about what’s on my mind. There are days we wake up and we don’t feel like working. We don’t feel like putting in the effort. Those are the days I’m going to get on social media and talk about that. I know people resonate with that because they’re like, “I needed to hear that. That was great. I was feeling down, too. Thank you for putting that post.”

I love doing stuff like that. I love inspiring people. Inspirational and motivational posts are what I love doing. I love watching that stuff. I love consuming that content. I watch Eric Thomas, Tony Robbins, Grant Cardone, and Russell Brunson. I watch a ton of guys who inspire me, and then I want to give back and inspire others.

Speaking of your desire to inspire and help others, it shows in the way you talk. What is your vision for helping people?

I came from humble beginnings. I didn’t have a father figure in my life. I came from a very abusive household. I’ve been able to become successful on my own, pretty much. It’s been difficult. I want to inspire others to dig deep for greatness. We all have greatness within us. A ton of us plays on a subpar level because we don’t want to challenge ourselves. We don’t like the feeling of discomfort.

Being in business is brutal. Starting a business is brutal. That’s any business. It’s about being the entrepreneur who needs to go out there, hustle, hit the pavement, and find business. If you don’t, you don’t eat. It is difficult. This is why a lot of people prefer to work for other companies or entrepreneurs. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you have the calling and you feel the burning desire in your heart to do something great and start a business, it is difficult. I want to inspire people who want to be successful, who want to achieve greatness, and who want to create a life for themselves.

Whatever business it is, whether it is real estate, investing, or any other business, it requires a strong mindset, which I know you have. Are there things that you could say that helped craft or develop your strong mindset? What life experiences, books, or classes have attributed to you being you?

I have worked on my mindset for years, and I continue to work on it. Mindset is something that needs to be nurtured daily. It’s like having a forest. It needs water and sun every single day. It needs to be nurtured. Working on your mindset takes a commitment. It takes discipline. That’s me also finding people who have inspired me, like Tony Robbins. I did a ton of Tony Robbins’ training.

Your mindset needs to be nurtured daily. Like a forest, it needs water and sun every single day to be nurtured. Click To Tweet

Even when I revisit another one of those trainings or one of his seminars, I learn something I didn’t catch the first time. I always get these nuggets. I am learning from business people who are way more successful than me, like Grant Cardone, Russell Brunson, and all these guys who teach me about online sales, building a business, and building a following.

The other part I want to point out is that you’ve got to get rid of the bad seeds, negativity, and negative people. They’re people who don’t have a vision. They’re people who want to drag you down. Sometimes, these types of people are your family members. I come from a very negative environment. You got to cut people out sometimes, and that might be cutting out family members. I don’t care because what is more important to me is my family, my vision for the future, and creating a beautiful life for my family. If that means cutting off negative people and building a more positive circle, that’s what I want to do.

I also pay a ton of money to go to some incredible masterminds with people who are way more successful than me. I’m getting people to elevate my thinking and consciousness. They’re getting me to think bigger, and then I realize, “I’m thinking way too small.” Get around then for a day and see how you start thinking and what you open your eyes to. That is a long answer to a deep question.

I’m agreeing with you wholeheartedly. One of the biggest masterminds that I’ve been a part of in the last couple of years is called GoBundance. It’s been amazing seeing all those entrepreneurs. It opened my eyes to things that I wasn’t exposed to yet. I thought pretty big until I met these other people. I’m like, “Now, I get it.” It’s leveled me up to doing even more cool stuff in my life and also maintaining a balanced life because I don’t always want to be working, which is cool.

I believe you could still have success, have a great life, travel with your family, do all the stuff that you wanted to do, live out your life to its wildest dreams, and be very happy. It is amazing to surround yourself with people that think a similar way because it elevates you there. You’re going to get there faster. I have a question. You were talking about negative people. Why do you think that we feel comfortable hanging around negative people? It’s easier said than done. We’re not walking away from it.

Society, in general, gives us negative conditioning. It’s not only coming from a negative environment but from also going to school and all the negative naysayers over the years. I have kids. You cannot convince a kid that they cannot do anything one day or that they can’t achieve anything. Think about it. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor, and a Top Gun pilot. I wanted to be all of them. I was also going to be the President of the United States.

Society, in general, gives people negative conditioning. Click To Tweet

As a kid, we have these visions. We think big. It’s the society that tells you, “That’s too hard. You can’t do that. You need to go to school and live a mediocre life. That’s what you’re supposed to do.” It’s so disappointing. That’s why my wife and I don’t want to do that to our kids. We want to champion them, build them up, and get them to think big. That negative conditioning coupled with being in negative circumstances and everybody pulling each other down brings everyone down. The fact is that if you want to think big, you want to think positively. You almost have to unlearn what you’ve learned over the years.

Going back to your real estate business, you run a team. Tell me more about your team. How big is your team? Do you have big rules to expand it?

We have a small but efficient team. We’re crushing real estate here in Houston. I want to grow and continue to expand upon my vision of building a brand. I’m building a brand that is so much bigger than real estate. I want to get into other verticals or other businesses. I’m focusing on real estate, but that starts with me building a following and building a brand that’s known where we can participate in anything. We can get endorsement deals. We can do anything and we will be able to create revenue streams. My vision is to build a brand and add to the team.

I want to get agents who have a burning desire to be successful and are willing to do whatever it takes. Becoming successful is difficult, but if you’re willing to do whatever it takes, you could become successful. There are a ton of agents, and I’m sure you know them, too, that want everything handed to them. They don’t want to put in any work. They just want things on a silver platter. That’s not realistic in real estate or any business. That’s not who I’m looking for. It has been a little bit of a struggle to find the right people, but we’re finding them. We’re interviewing a ton of agents and we’re building our team.

I’m agreeing with you. I don’t care how many agents I have per se. I’m looking for quality. I’m looking for agents that will stay with me in the long run and that are contributing to the unified division that we have in growing the business together. It’s a win-win situation for both of us rather than getting agents that’ll come and go. I’m sure it’s similar to yours.

The agents that we bring in feel like family at the same time, too. We are there for each other. We’re more successful together than working independently. It is a team sport at the same time, too. It is a high-contact sport. Real estate and the sales business is a team sport. You can’t do it yourself. Out of curiosity, what other verticals are you thinking of potentially even getting into?

I want to get into fashion. I want to get into beverages. I want to get into men’s exotic attire. If you could tell, I love to dress nice. I want to get into other things that we can promote and build a brand. I look at so many entrepreneurs that have built brands beyond what they started in because they’re known. That’s what I want to do.

Would you consider yourself more of an entrepreneur or more of a realtor? What do you call yourself?

I’ve always felt and believed that even being a realtor, you’re an entrepreneur at first. My first part is being an entrepreneur. I always knew that I wanted to be in business. That was even before I got into real estate. I do love real estate. With all these technological changes with social media, Amazon, and everybody ordering online, you still need a place to live.

Everyone needs a place to live. You need a place to sleep, relax, and come home to. That is what I love about real estate. Even with technology advancing and Zoom meetings where they’re saying, “We don’t need office space. Everyone’s going to work virtually,” I don’t know if that’s going to be true. I know you need a place to sleep at night.

What has real estate done for you in your life in general? You chose real estate as the method by which you’d be building your business, but what has it done for you? From investing, sales, and all that stuff, what has it done for you in your life?

It has allowed me the latitude to raise my family, be a father, still show homes, and build a brand. I want to build a brand where people follow me because I have some incredible listings and because of my personality. Both can benefit the other. That has been some of the offshoots. I want to also build wealth, invest, and create enough income to where we have the income to invest. I want to invest in real estate and invest in passive income. I want to get paid.

Everybody has a 401(k) and an IRA. Those are great, but that’s a theory. I’m not saying don’t save in a 401(k), but I want to invest in assets that pay me now. I want something paying me now. I want something to work for me. I work so hard, but I want to invest in something that will work for me and pay me now, not 40 years from now. That’s what real estate’s taught me. It’s been great.

SCF 41 | Building A Brand

Building A Brand: Everybody has a 401k and IRA, which are great, but that’s just a theory. You want to invest in assets that can pay you right now, not 40 years from now.

 

I have some final questions for you. My first one is what are you excited about in your business?

I’m excited about going online. I’m excited about the new business we’re launching on mentoring and coaching real estate agents. I want to help them. 9 out of 10 real estate agents don’t make it the first five years, so I want to find the ones who are committed and dedicated and help them build their names and their business.

I’m also excited about building our team and building a powerhouse here in Houston. I want to be a major player in Houston where if you think about Houston real estate, you think about me. That is where my goal is here in Houston. I know I can do that through online digital advertising, social media, and taking my brand and my likeness online.

The old-school methods of advertising are expensive and ineffective. The new school methods like social media and digital advertising are so much more powerful. That’s why I’ve spent the last few years studying, learning, and doing the best, latest, and greatest strategy so I can build my brand. I want that if you think of Houston real estate, you think of Morad Fiki. That’s what I’m excited about.

What does success mean to you?

Having it means freedom. That’s what success means. It’s both the freedom of time and the freedom of, “I want to go on vacation this weekend,” and I can do that. I want to take my family to see some beautiful sites, eat the best foods, stay in the nicest places, and I can do that and my business doesn’t stop because I left. That is true freedom.

For a lot of us, when we start our businesses, they can’t function without us. You start your business for freedom, but you end up shackling yourself. We’ve all been guilty of this, especially in the beginning stages of entrepreneurship. True freedom means my business operates and functions with or without me. I can step away for a week and everything’s still moving forward. If not, I’m getting more business than when I was. That’s true freedom and success.

Speaking of traveling, is there any other bucket list types of vacations or places that you want to go to?

It is Maldives and Bora Bora.

What is your superpower that’s contributed to your success so far?

My superpower is my authenticity. I would love to connect with any of your audience on any social media platform. I’m on all of them. You pick your favorite platform and let’s connect. Follow my content. My superpower, I hope, is that when people follow me or we connect on social media, they feel like they get to know me and they feel my authenticity that comes across my videos and my content. I like putting out my thoughts, what I feel, and the struggles I’ve been through. That’s because I want to inspire people. Hopefully, it comes across as authentic and people can connect with it in a short period of time.

Do you have any final words or advice? Is there something I should have asked you that I didn’t ask yet?

We covered a lot. I want to thank you for your time. Thank you for considering me and bringing me to your show. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to your audience. I owe you on the other side. If you need anything, I would love to help you and be of service to you. I wish you and your audience a Happy Thanksgiving. I would love to connect with anybody. Pick your favorite platform. Let’s connect. I’ll see you soon.

I love that you’re in everything. What are the best ways for somebody to get a hold of you?

They can find me on any social media platform or HoustonLuxuryRealEstate.com, which is the premier website for luxury homes in Houston, Texas, MoradFiki.com, or any social media platform. I’d love to connect.

Thank you for being a guest. Thanks for your time. You come across as authentic, easy to talk to, and inspirational. Thank you for that. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, thank you all for being an audience to my show. Thanks for being a guest, Morad. I look forward to connecting with you sometime in person, one time or another.

I’ll send referrals your way.

It’s probably even more so easy for me to send them your way because the people from the Bay Area are moving to your area.

A lot of people are moving to Houston.

It’s been amazing. I could see the outflows coming from the San Francisco Bay Area moving to your place. We can be in touch regarding that stuff. To my audience, feel free to reach out to Morad directly if you have any questions for him. Thanks for checking out this episode of the show. Remember to leave me a review on iTunes as it helps me attract even more great guests like Morad. Until next time, live life abundantly.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

 

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About Morad Fiki

SCF 41 | Building A BrandUpon honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy in 2013, Morad Fiki has tackled the high end luxury Houston residential real estate market. Morad has always strived to use Innovative and unorthodox marketing strategies for high end Luxury residential Properties. Constantly thinking “outside of the box,” Morad consistently uses enhanced Social media techniques to target online buyers for his high end listings. He strives to be on the forefront of the “Next New Thing” and has thus been dubbed as the Future of Houston Luxury Real Estate. Morad Fiki has been named in the latest issue of Houston Luxury Magazine as one of “Houston’s Top Luxury Real Estate Professionals.”