Real estate is my dream-Femi Aguda, CEO, Block 22 Realty

Founder and CEO of Chicago, America-based Block 22 Realty firm, Femi Aguda, has explained that he did not venture into real estate business as a quick-money venture.

According to him: “My history in real estate started when I was growing up in Nigeria. Growing up in a family of five kids, we lived in a two-bedroom flat in an estate and I always ended up sleeping on the floor.

In my quest to solve this, I turned my pain into passion and my passion into a business. So, for me going into real estate seems natural as I chose it as my vehicle to wealth.”

Pointing out that every business has its ups and down, Femi Aguda, who got his real estate license in 2017, dissuaded thoughts that real estate does not have peculiar challenges.

Said he: “As a real estate broker, I know some of the major challenges in this business. One of these is low Inventory; without inventory, there is no sales/income and that results in no business.”

Continuing, he added: “In this business, “No” is the most frequent response; you need to grow a tough skin to withstand the volumes of “Nos” in the pipelines as they are more than enough to demoralise you. You will need to develop staying power.”

He also avowed that it will take a minimum of three years before desired results start to manifest. “I mean three years of hard work, dedication (giving it all it takes) and getting out of your comfort zone (be out there to attract your target). Real estate is sure a long-term game,” he affirmed.

Femi Aguda (whose full name is Aguda Olufemi Michael) further claimed that real estate investors and stakeholders face growing online competition from listing portals and homebuyer apps such as Zillow, Redfin and the likes.

“All the same, this is a business where if you play by the rule book, you definitely will get a good return on investment in the long run,” he affirmed.