EP 518 - How Sam Morris raised $150M+ in Private Capital and Built a $1B+ Real Estate Portfolio!

Sam Morris (0:00)

One of the reasons we love Multifamily so much is that it is a core need for people, right? It's not just a want. A lot of the other real estate out there is truly a want. And so that's why we choose Multifamily and stay in that lane too. In addition to that, it helps us kind of condense the knowledge base we need to have if we're really focused on just that one type.

Tim Mai (0:19)

Welcome everyone to our HERO Capital Show. I'm your host Tim Mai. And today I have a good friend, an amazing real estate investor, syndicator, capital raiser, Mr. Sam Morris. Sam is a partner in Lscre, which is a multi-family real estate syndication firm. And Sam oversees the acquisition, the asset management and the investment relations. He has over 20 years of experience in real estate. He've led acquisitions and disposition teams to over $550 million in multi-family transactions, and a lot more in self-storage as well.

And I've gotten to know Sam quite some time now, over the last couple of years. And he is one of my favorite people on the planet. Why? Because it's rare to meet someone that genuinely are interested in you, interested in getting to know you with no motives, no objectives. Just wanna know you as a human being. And Sam been there for me through the years for many things. And we have breakfast about once a month or so, or once every other couple of months. So I got to know him a lot as a person and amazing human being. So I'm super excited to interview you today, Sam. It's been a while, I think, since you've been on this show. And so, yeah, thank you. Welcome.

Sam Morris (1:40)

Thank you very much, Tim. Yeah, what I always tease people about, they don't realize that Tim and I are actually twin brothers. So just-

Tim Mai (1:47)

Yes, I'll let you guys tell.

Sam Morris (1:48)

We talk from the same club. We do educate each other's company, and it's great. And I'll call you a friend and consider you that. And yeah, we do live together, not just this real estate thing. So it's awesome.

Tim Mai (1:59)

Yeah, exactly. Now, quick disclaimer, we're not identical twins, but we are paternal twins. Paternal. For sure, for sure.

Sam Morris (2:08)

I got the height, he got the good looks. That's how it worked.

Tim Mai (2:11)

You know, one of the things you just said, Sam, about how we don't just do real estate together, we do life together. And I think that I want to lead with that because a lot of times when we're in business, we're in real estate, and sometimes business can be quite transactional, but when it comes to the kind of business that we do, we build lifelong relationship, lifelong business, right? Anybody who are in multifamily commercial real estate, most likely you're in this for the long haul.

And if you want to be in this for the long haul, getting to know people on their life side of who they are, more than the business side is going to take you really far. And one of the things that you do, Sam, is you share a lot about how often you have meals with your investors and how you guys go to do activities together. So share with us a little bit about that, both the psychology, if you call it that, because I know you do it very naturally. It's not like a tactic or strategy that you try to do. It's just, share with us about the importance of, why is it important that we get to know our investors on a personal level? And in the war of virtual, in the war of AI, can't we just do everything online? Do we really need to do that?

Sam Morris (3:30)

I know you can't break bread online. You really can't. It's one of those things where when you and I have breakfast every month, it's not a, I can't just send you eggs and whatever, or send you a hot tea and just that's good, right? That's not how that works, right? And so I joke kind of almost in jest, but I've been doing this for a long time. And so I tell people I've been raising money since before it was cool. And back in those days prior to 2012, which is when the jobs act was passed, which is when all this stuff, people were able to go online and do everything virtual and digital. You truly had to have an SEC compliant relationship with people. You had to have the ability to look at them in the eye and shake their hand and get to know them and make sure that you were putting them into the right thing for their needs too. And when you do it that way for so long, the old school just stays with you. And so it wasn't some big light bulb moment. Hey, I can have a lot more success if I'm just really engaged with my investors and know what they need and will deliver what they need to them, which makes common sense. But that's really just how I started. It was more of a handshake.