Faran Malik of FCI Group On Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Real Estate Industry
An Interview With Jason Hartman
Patience is key: Real estate can require a lot of time and effort. Making the right moves isn’t always as easy as it may seem. Develop an adaptive plan and cultivate resilience following the plan. Trust the process!
As a part of my series about the ‘Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Real Estate Industry’, I had the pleasure of interviewing Faran Malik.
With a remarkable background in the tech industry, Faran Malik transitioned to become an entrepreneur. He founded FCI Group, a real estate syndication firm, to address the limited access accredited investors had to
high-return markets with little competition. FCI Group has garnered significant attention in the industry, navigating high-profile deals and establishing FCI as a prominent player in the real estate market. Notably, FCI has successfully syndicated important projects with companies like Ritz Carlton, MGM Grand, Hilton, and Marriott.
Faran’s expertise in investment management allows him to deliver tailored services, meeting the unique needs of FCI Group’s clients. Beyond his professional pursuits, Faran generously dedicates his time and resources to humanitarian efforts, coordinating teams and providing aid in disaster zones such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Turkey. As the visionary leader of FCI Group, Faran Malik continues to drive the firm’s success, creating valuable opportunities and positively impacting the real estate industry and beyond.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the Real Estate industry?
I have always been passionate about real estate. Moving from a country like Pakistan, where we had limited access to achieving our goals and dreams, I learned the importance of owning something. A few years ago, one of my friends came to me with the idea of Real Estate Syndication, and I knew in my heart it was the right thing for us to pursue. It was a very complex decision for me to make, leaving my high paying job for an idea but I believed in myself enough to pull the trigger “When it feels scary to jump that’s exactly when you jump. Otherwise, you stay in the same place your whole life.” This is a quote I live by on a daily basis.
Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
A few months ago, I visited Turkey, where a massive earthquake hit the country. My team and I provided medical support to those affected by the devastating earthquake. While serving there, I learned some valuable lessons. One of which was the importance of having people back when times are tough. Turkey’s people were there for each other, creating a sense of community. I took this lesson with me and implemented it within my company. I helped my team understand the importance of having each other’s back during rocky times. Any business has its ups and downs, and knowing that people are there for each other can make all the difference.
Do you have a favorite “life lesson quote”? Can you share a story or example of how that was relevant to you in your life?
“The most important conversations you’ll ever have are the ones you’ll have with yourself.” — David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me. Staying true to yourself is, in my opinion, the most important thing you can do. As an entrepreneur, the most brutal fight you’re putting up with is with yourself. I believe staying true to your values and morals is important because those are the only things that will define you and help you get through turbulent times. If I didn’t focus on my own thoughts and who I was as a person, I would never be able to succeed with the issues that I’ve faced. Self-reflection and conversations with yourself are another form of therapy, giving you clarity, sharpness, and most of all an understanding of what you want, who you are, and how you want to handle your life. No one understands you better than you, and I made sure to use that fact in my favor so I can be well rounded, not only in the business world but also in my personal life.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Are you even growing a business if you’re not always looking to expand? Business growth crucially depends on strategic expansion. Our teams work very hard to find good deals for our investors that can provide high returns. We are always looking to expand our business and find effective ways to add value to people’s lives. My team has a few exciting projects in the works we plan on discussing more in the next few months. Some of them will be important projects for our company’s portfolio, and we expect to provide investors with high returns if they choose to invest with us in those projects.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Coming from an immigrant family, we were taught the values of helping others and making a difference in people’s lives. At FCI, we serve a very niche group of investors and provide them with quality work while maintaining our values and ethical responsibilities. I grew up as a very competitive child & I would occasionally get into fights with my friends playing soccer. My mom caught me fighting my friend over the game one day, and that was when I learned the lesson of ethical competitiveness. It’s great to be competitive but remember who you are dealing with and to never lose your morals trying to succeed, yet still succeed against all odds. I brought that ethical competitiveness to FCI Group in all of our dealings, making sure that we find the best investments for our investors and the best possible returns without letting emotional decision making get in the way.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I don’t have a particular person in mind, but every time I speak to someone who has more knowledge and experience than me, I ask a lot of questions. And understand how they came to success. During those transformative moments, they assumed the role of an invaluable mentor, illuminating my path with their profound wisdom and invaluable knowledge. For example, I feared public speaking, so one of my mentors pushed me to overcome that fear by guiding me on how to speak in front of a large audience. Then made me explain my ideas and the projects I was working on in front of thousands of people at town halls multiple times, which built my confidence in public speaking. Not only that, I realize because of those lessons, I became a better communicator.
Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Real Estate industry?
1. Opportunities are everywhere:
Walking down New York City and sitting in the lobbies of some of the top brands, I observed that more rooms must be available in a city like New York, which has always attracted tourists. NYC is a very high barrier to entry, and building or owning a hotel takes work. I see a lot of potential for CRE in areas like NYC.
2. Great Growth Potential:
Investors are looking for deals that have high returns and less risk. The hospitality industry has always made its mark in the market. That co-relates to more Investments being poured into the industry and much more development over the coming years as the population grows. Investors understand the ROIs that can come out of lucrative markets, such as CRE. This translates into more business growth and competition.
3. When Others Succeed!:
It always makes me happy when I see other people succeed in our business. The pie is big enough for everyone, competition is relatively low. I mentor other young entrepreneurs to join our market as well. Syndication is very hard, but it has its ups. Patience is required in our business because deals take months to close before you see any money on the table. But it definitely excites me to see my peers grow.
Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?
1. Market timing:
Timing the real estate market correctly is difficult. Investors find it difficult to find optimal entry and exit points, leaving missed opportunities and returns. At FCI Group, we make sure our investments are the best timed for the current market to eliminate the issue of missed opportunities.
2. Lack of Diversification:
Real estate investors usually concentrate their portfolios on sectors they find comfortable, decreasing diversification. If there is an economic downturn, some areas may be affected more than others. Diversifying is key, so we made sure that FCI helps with that issue by giving investment opportunities across the nation.
3. Competition:
The commercial real estate market can be competitive, especially in highly densely populated zones. Individual investors face challenging issues finding viable investment opportunities that also increase barriers to entry as attractive opportunities grow in cost. FCI helps its clients weed out other investors leaving you with great investment opportunities with the hard work being taken care of for you.
What advice would you give to other real estate leaders to help their teams to thrive and to create a really fantastic work culture?
Picking the right team is essential to what will make or break your company. But picking the right talent isn’t the only challenge, as a leader, you are responsible for your team and should have extreme ownership of business decisions. At the end of the day, it all falls on your shoulders. As a leader, I would recommend anyone who is leading a team to read “Extreme Ownership By Jocko Willink.” The book talks about how to own all the decisions of your team and why they are crucial to your success. The culture of a company will come from the top down.
Management sets the example, and it trickles down to everyone else.
Ok, here is the main question of our interview. You are a “Real Estate Insider”. If you had to advise someone about 5 non-intuitive things one should know to succeed in the Real Estate industry, what would you say?
1. Emotional Intelligence Matters: It’s imperative in our business to know when you’re making an emotional decision; sometimes, those decisions can be very costly if a certain amount of logic isn’t used. Emotions will cloud your judgment, and you can end up with a bad deal. In order to prevent that, as a leader, you should be able to separate emotions to logic when it comes to decision-making.
2. Trust your gut: Sometimes walking away is the best thing to do, even when profits look promising. With experience comes intuition. Whenever I am put in a situation where the investor we are trying to bring doesn’t align with my company’s mission or values, I don’t bring them into my business because I’ve learned the art of walking away from anything. Knowing I can jeopardize my business if I work with the wrong person.
3. Research is key: It’s not as simple as investing and making money; research is critical. Knowing what type of assets you should be looking to invest in is the main problem that needs to be solved. & effective research skills are required to make sure you’re not wasting time and are able to produce high yielding results. Our employees are trained at a high standard to be able to work with these types of requirements giving our investors the best results possible.
4. Embrace tech & data: Coming from the tech space, this idea came to me naturally, but I noticed that investors don’t always value the data as much as they should. Data can help you make crucial decisions. My team and I review market stats on a daily basis. We have built models and implemented solutions that help us make decisions backed by data.
5. Patience is key: Real estate can require a lot of time and effort. Making the right moves isn’t always as easy as it may seem. Develop an adaptive plan and cultivate resilience following the plan. Trust the process!
Because of your position, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I’ve thought about this question before. I’ve traveled a good amount of the world and think I have the perspective to compare my life with others on how God has blessed me and my family. I was in the Dominican Republic in September 2022, serving the people who got affected by Hurricane Fiona. We were giving out food packets to families that had not eaten in days. On multiple occasions, I ran into issues with locals who wanted more food, but we had limited resources. I truly wished I could help everyone. Because of the limited resources, on some occasions, people would chase us down with machetes just to get a bag of rice. I was concerned about my team’s safety, so we decided to let the locals distribute food. If I could start a movement, I would create an initiative to never let anyone sleep hungry. Moments like my time in the Dominican Republic remind me of how grateful we should be in our own lives in America.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
www.Linkedin.com/in/thefounderguy www.Instagram.com/thefounderguy www.FaranCapital.com
Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
About The Interviewer: Jason Hartman is the Founder and CEO of Empowered Investor. Jason has been involved in several thousand real estate transactions and has owned income properties in 11 states and 17 cities. Empowered Investor helps people achieve The American Dream of financial freedom by purchasing income property in prudent markets nationwide. Jason’s Complete Solution for Real Estate Investors™ is a comprehensive system providing real estate investors with education, research, resources and technology to deal with all areas of their income property investment needs. Through Jason’s podcasts, educational events, referrals, mentoring and software to track your
investments, investors can easily locate, finance and purchase properties in these exceptional markets with confidence and peace of mind.
Starting with very little, Jason, while still in college at the age of 19, embarked on a career in real estate. While brokering properties for clients, he was investing in his own portfolio along the way. Through creativity, persistence and hard work, he earned a number of prestigious industry awards and became a young multi-millionaire. Jason purchased a
California real estate brokerage firm that was later acquired by Coldwell Banker. He combined his dedication and business talents to become a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, author, and media personality. Over the years he developed his Complete Solution for Real Estate Investors™ where his innovative firm educates and assists investors in acquiring prudent investments nationwide for their portfolio. Jason’s sought after educational events, speaking engagements, and his popular “Creating Wealth Podcast” inspire and empower hundreds of thousands of people in 189 countries worldwide.
While running his successful real estate and media businesses, Jason also believes that giving back to the community plays an important role in building strong personal
relationships. He established The Jason Hartman Foundation in 2005 to provide financial literacy education to young adults providing the all-important real world skills not taught in school which are the key to the financial stability and success of future generations. We’re in a global monetary crisis caused by decades of misguided policies and the cycle of financial dependence has to be broken, literacy and self-reliance are a good start. Visit JasonHartman.com for free materials and resources.
