The 5 Questions Podcast
Join us as we unlock real estate and business insights, one question at a time.
The 5 Questions Podcast
Balance and Abundance in Real Estate with Dawn Sirdar
Dawn Sirdar, co-founder of Abundant Homes, shares her vision of combining real estate ventures with community building to create truly abundant living experiences. She explains her approach to raising capital, giving back through The Water Project, and maintaining work-life balance while growing a successful real estate business.
• Creating properties where tenants feel at home and part of a community
• Being transparent and thoroughly knowledgeable when raising capital for real estate projects
• Supporting The Water Project to help women in developing countries start businesses
• Using blogging and storytelling to build connections and establish trust
• Maintaining balance between real estate investing and personal life through exercise and family time
• Setting boundaries like a weekly day of rest from business activities
• Building community within family by prioritizing relationships with children and grandchildren
Rising Above the Rest: Go from Regular to Exceptional in Real Estate
Available on Amazon: Rising Above the Rest
Contact
Email: sirdaric@sirdar.ca
Instagram: @abundant_dawn
Welcome to the 5 Questions Podcast, where we unlock real estate and business insights one question at a time. Welcome to the 5 Questions Podcast. I'm your host, mario Lamar. Our guest on today's show is the co-founder of abundant ohms and abundant wood, part of serdar investment corp, blending our diverse career in hospitality, own businesses and teaching to create a thriving real estate venture. With a passion for community building and giving back, she leads creative real estate strategies while supporting causes like the Water Project. Welcome Dawn Sardar.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the show, Dawn, Thank you. The concept of the podcast is real simple. I ask five questions, either about business or real estate, and we get straight to the point. You ready questions either about business or real estate, and we get straight to the point. You ready? Yes, I'm ready. First question I have for you is you co-founded Abundant Homes and Abundant Hood? Can you tell us about how the idea of combining real estate and community building came together?
Speaker 2:came together. Well, I feel that people want to live an abundant life and when they are part of a community, that's where the feeling that's inside comes from. The abundant feeling comes from that, from being part of a community and being involved with the community. So, for myself, I do a lot of volunteering and I get a lot of gratification from that, and when we have a community, we feel part of something and I think it's a part of human nature just to want to be part of something.
Speaker 1:So you like the idea of people working together for a certain cause, and then you tied it to real estate as well to combine the project both together.
Speaker 2:Yes, and just to have a nice place to live. So for our rentals, we want people to feel that that is their home and that they have that feeling of abundance, even if they're not an owner, and then for any developments or flips or anything like that, that we do the best possible for our end user.
Speaker 1:That is truly amazing. I think that's what's missing is we need more of these types of properties or apartment buildings that can give that lifestyle to people. So congratulations on having that idea of putting Front together. That brings us to our second question, and your involvement in raising capital and joint ventures is a huge part of your work. What advice do you have for investors looking to raise capital in today's market?
Speaker 2:I believe that people should be very upfront with information about the project. I have had opportunities in the past to raise capital for other projects and I have not been successful, partly because I don't know enough about the deal. And for myself I need to know all the little details. I need to know the background and all of that, because when I believe in something, then I can project that to the people that I'm talking to.
Speaker 2:And, whether I'm part of that deal or not, people who trust me trust that I'm going to work with somebody that has integrity and that I have dug up every little thing about the project to be able to speak on that and that I will find out. And so when I'm working with somebody on raising capital, I need to know the answers. And when I know the answers, I can provide that to the investor, because the investor needs to know the answers. People don't invest in something where you're like, well, I don't know, I can provide that to the investor because the investor needs to know the answers. People don't invest in something where you're like.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Or where you are like, well, we haven't decided yet, or we're not sure that will come. They're not investing today for something that you're not sure of today.
Speaker 1:So, from what I gathered that you said, it starts with doing our homework. If you're going to raise capital, make sure you know all the ins and outs of the deal and bring it with confidence to whoever you're trying to raise capital from, because, like you said, people don't invest in uncertainties.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly yes, people. I mean. Investing is a risk and you know better returns bring, you know, usually come with a little bit more risk. However, the information mitigates that risk. When you have all of the ducks in a row and you have confidence that these things will happen, your risk is mitigated, and that's what somebody doing their due diligence is going to look for their due diligence is going to look for.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, that brings us to our third question. A portion of the cash flow from your rental properties goes to the water project. Why is giving back so important to you, and how does this align with your?
Speaker 2:investment philosophy.
Speaker 2:So a few years back I was looking for somewhere to put that donation towards a project or towards something that would not just about giving to people.
Speaker 2:It's about providing a way for people to give to themselves or to provide for themselves, just like teach a man to fish rather than give him the fish. And so with the water project, they set up business loans for usually women in third world countries, so that those people are not having to haul water to be delivered to their home, so that they're not hauling that water, because some women will spend from the time they're young teenagers or young children hauling water to their house for eight hours a day or whatever, so that they can just live. And so it provides loans so that they can get water delivered to their house, either either through you know a system or like through pipeline or whatever, and through that loan then they can then start. They get their water, but they can also start businesses and provide for their family, and so it helps women provide for their family and be entrepreneurs as well and have more abundance in their life and more free time. And so that's how it fits in with my ideals about that and philosophy.
Speaker 1:I love the fact that you're not just giving but you're actually also teaching people how to help themselves for a better life. And there's nothing wrong about just giving to people, but there's something more powerful when you're able to teach them and then they can do it on their own after. Because if I feel like if you just give, then someone might become dependent on that. But if they learn, you know, for example, now it's time they free their time so they can start a business instead of all in water for eight hours. That's a great opportunity for them. Well, let's move on to question number four. You've been blogging for over 15 years. How has blogging shaped your approach to networking and establishing yourself as an authority in the real estate space?
Speaker 2:Well, actually my blogging has not established myself so much in the real estate space because I am not blogging advertising it that much. So I started blogging before Facebook and so that was my outlet. I like to write and I have written quite a bit. It helps me to sort my thoughts, it helps me to express myself, but I don't always like let everybody know that I have a blog so that I don't have everybody reading it. It has helped me to write.
Speaker 2:So when I have written articles in a magazine when I homeschooled I wrote articles for a magazine and I've given presentations. So when it was time to write the chapter in our book Rising Above the Rest, I was able to just kind of take that and, you know, put out a chapter that's pretty well polished and that one is about real estate. So I guess in that respect it has, you know, helped me with that and for writing as well. I have written articles for real estate. I did some ghostwriting for somebody, so I did that, that and those were basically blog posts as well and so, yeah, those articles and uh. And then I don't put a lot of posts out on facebook or instagram, but I do comment and add information to people in the comments for their posts and stuff, so I write there as well.
Speaker 1:I feel like you might be a little bit too humble, because I see some of the work that you did and you certainly stand out in the real estate space, so there might be a little bit of too much of humbleness there. But how does that help you with networking? As far as you blogging, I'm sure it sparks conversations when people see your blogs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that people yeah, when people see things that I've written whether it's the blogs or it's my comments or my posts, my writing I try to tell a story. I like to tell a story. I like to tell a story. I like that people can relate, even if they can't relate. So, for instance, with Cycling Halfway Across Canada, that's what I wrote about in the book and I wrote posts about that but how that relates to life in business. So a lot of people, most people can ride a bike not everybody, but a lot of people can ride a bike and they can ride a certain distance and so they can relate to riding a bike. They may not relate to the distance traveled in a day or whatever, but people in real estate can also relate to if they flipped a house, like how long it takes or how hard things can get along the way. So I like to write things that people relate to. I like to write things that people relate to as well as tell interesting stories about how and in interesting ways, and from that then I guess that helps with the networking where people are like, oh, I read your post about this, and sometimes I'm like, oh, or somebody will ask me a question about something and I'm like, how did you know? And so that's a little offsetting. And then I'm like, oh, they're friends with me on Facebook or or whatever. And so, yeah, that's. I guess that helps.
Speaker 2:In that way People get to know me and and it goes back to that, the know, like and trust, where people can trust you, that you're going to have integrity and that you are going to do what you say you're going to do. And that's one thing that I tell myself when things get hard. I do what I say I'm going to do and I also say I do hard things. So, yeah, my working out, the workouts that I do, all of that is proof to myself, because we all need to believe in ourself Absolutely that I do hard things, and then that's what I project also to others. I hope that's what people see, because that's what I strongly believe in, is that I do what I say I'm going to do.
Speaker 1:It's really remarkable. And because you're right, people need to believe more in themselves. You're right, people need to believe more in themselves. We can achieve great things more than what we can believe we can achieve usually, so you're absolutely right. Well, this brings us to our fifth and final question for today, and talking about cycling. Between cycling, snowboarding, gardening, you clearly have a full life outside of work.
Speaker 2:How do you balance personal hobbies with the demands of real estate?
Speaker 1:investing and managing a business, sometimes not very well.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks for the honesty there, there are days where I do feel overwhelmed and I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. I think that comparison is the enemy, and I can look at other people who have grown their real estate really fast and have done a lot of things in a short time, and I would say it's probably taken me longer to get where I'm going. And part of that is that I feel it's important to make sure that I am enjoying life and that I am staying fit, so that at some point where I do slow down which I probably won't I look at my mom, my mom and my dad. They're in their 80s and, and you know, they are busier than ever. They have all their things that they're doing physically and mentally and like just keeping active, and so I feel like I'm not that person who's going to stop anytime soon.
Speaker 2:I look forward to my future. I have future goals, but also even with raising capital, and this is where I speak up and say what's true. So I was asked well, what does this look like for this particular project I'm working on? What does this look like for you in your daily life as a job or a work or whatever? And I said, well, it has to fit around a volleyball and my workouts round of volleyball and my workouts. So and that was the right answer, because that's what their vision was for raising the capital as well I need to be able to exercise so I stay healthy, so that I can say I do hard things and so that I can feel equipped to have the energy to do all of the things that I need to do in a day and want to do in a day and so and to enjoy it, because there are times when I do too much and then I need to take a break and I know when I'm doing too much and I can do it for a little while.
Speaker 2:Like everyone, we have our seasons and our moments where we do more, and then I know to take my downtime and I also take a day of rest every week. I also take a day of rest every week. So my day of rest is not always resting per se, but it is away from my phone or answering emails or looking at emails. So if somebody wants, if there's an emergency, I will respond to it, but I'm not checking my emails that day, and so I do take a day of rest as well, and that helps me to balance. I'll ride my bike on that day, but it helps me to balance the work portion and to be fresh to tackle the emails or do the other things that I need to do on the other six days of the week things that I need to do on the other six days of the week.
Speaker 1:Well, certainly, having a balance is where it takes you further. You don't burn out, you still feel like you can have fun while doing work and running business. So you're a true, true example in that, uh, in that domain. For, for the rest of us, because it's true, sometimes we push ourselves and we want to accomplish, and we also you said something really important do not compare yourself to others. You don't know their situation and is how it compares to yours. So do with your world, what you have in your life, and find a balance to you know balance, to mix pleasure and work, to the, to the amount that brings you happiness, and then, and then go with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the other thing I want to add is one of the one of the things that so I didn't do a job.
Speaker 2:I didn't work through all of my adult life.
Speaker 2:My husband provided for our family and I was home with the kids and homeschooled them and once they were older, I did volunteer jobs and I did part-time jobs and stuff like that through that time.
Speaker 2:But one of the things when I was then transitioning out of that and we had some, you know, caretaking stuff that we were doing as well, but it was important for me to find something to do that did not take away from the little moments in a day, the times to as our children married and had their children that time to go and watch a ball hockey game or go and watch soccer or to spend time with the grandchildren, to watch them for a couple of hours or whatever.
Speaker 2:So I wanted that freedom for those things as well, as an older adult to be able to take those times and have a relationship and it comes back to community again to have a relationship within our family. So your family is your first community and and I want, like we want, our grandchildren to know us and to to have us in their lives and and part of that is to go to their events because so that they get to know that we were there, we were we, we, you know, cheered them on in in their sports or whatever it is that they're doing as they as they grow older, that they're doing as they grow older, and to form that relationship and be part of that smaller community while also, you know, being part of a bigger community.
Speaker 1:Well, Dawn, this was a real pleasure having a conversation with you today. I hope that our listeners take a piece of your wisdom with them on their journey, and I'm sure that we'll talk to each other soon again. Once again, thank you for being on the show today.
Speaker 2:And thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Bye-bye, Bye. Thanks for tuning into the 5 Questions Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, like and hit the notification bell on our YouTube channel so you never miss an episode. Stay tuned for more insights and tips to transform your real estate and business game. See you next time.