Shade: An Awakening

By Elijah Heyward, Jr.

The principal members of H&H Management had done their real estate homework, and they sought to make application of what they learned. Their successful acquisition of Shade Tree Apartments, a forty-unit complex near downtown Beaufort, South Carolina, had placed them one step closer towards achieving financial security. Little did they know about the rude awakening that lurked. A sound business plan may not be enough to withstand socioeconomic factors that could derail a dream. Add external factors like a scrutinizing community, menacing crime element, and local government and media, things can get out of control rather quickly -- and they did. Elijah Heyward, Jr., author, educator, businessman, and inspirational speaker, shares the management and ownership lessons he learned and other astute observations in his latest book, Shade: An Awakening.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MavLit Publishing
• Release date: Jun 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781937705282

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

"And afterward, I will pour out my

spirit on all people. Your sons and

daughters will prophesy, your old

men will dream dreams, your young

men will see visions . . ." Joel 2:28

While lying in bed after experiencing three years of challenges and adversity in a multi-unit apartment management/ownership, a voice deep within the recesses of my mind said, Write a book.

Weeks before, the voice spoke to my son, Trey, who said, Father, if you want to become known [as a spiritual motivator], you’ve got to write a book and appear on Oprah.

Well, I obeyed the command of the voice and followed the advise of my son.

The saga started in January 1993 with the purchase of a forty-unit apartment complex in Beaufort, South Carolina, by H&H Partners. The complex had been owned an operated by various real estate companies prior to the purchase by H&H Partners, . Their tenure of ownership would be best described as business as usual.

The apartment complex was situated on nearly five acres of land in the center of town. Crime and drugs permeated the complex, which was home to a number of decent older citizens and families. The general acres had been slated for enormous growth and development. Thus, it was an excellent opportunity along the Intracoastal waterway and the pristine marshes.

H&H Properties had positioned itself for success based on sound real estate principles.

ONE

The Story Begins

Reserve partners, what a crew

Bright careers, lots to do

Forget about singing the blues

Explore financial . . .

In 1979, I entered the Air Force Reserve at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina. This would be the start of an experience that would change my economic life. Charleston had given me the opportunity to meet the most stimulating African Americans in uniform I’d yet to encounter. These brothers were an enlightening group searching for the American dream.

Richard attended college for two years. He began work in manufacturing and continued his studies of the stock market and mutual funds. He thrilled us with his knowledge and showed us the investments he made, which had performed quite well.

However, Richard never gave us complete cooperation. He was secretive and very particular about his money. On one occasion, he lent one of us a quarter and reminded us of it over the next two years. He was truly individualistic; we nicknamed him Tight Wad.

John came to us by way of the 82nd Airbone. True in Army fashion, he was adventuresome and opinionated. He rode a motorcycle in any weather and he was an avid fisherman. He had a twenty-two foot boat that he took to the ocean on his days off, or even sick days. He was rescued after going adrift once after four days and two days on the other occasion. He was a true soldier who seized the moment so long as it involved Jack (Daniels) and fishing; we nicknamed him Bill Dance.

Clinton stood about six-four or six-five, and he was two hundred and forty pounds of confidence. He was the youngest of the group. He rode a Harley, drank Jack and played baseball and softball. He had the skills to make it big time, but he missed the opportunity. He once used his size to his advantage by inviting himself to an NBA All-Star game and party in Charlotte and then signing autographs along side John Salley, an NBA champion and All-Star.

Stacy entered the Air Force Reserve in 1980 fresh from three years of active duty in the Army. His entrepreneurial spirit came through his father, who managed to raise a large family along with owning and operating a string of businesses. Stacy acquired a job as a longshoreman and worked in the family business. He drove Corvettes and he enjoyed playing pick-up basketball. His wit was a sharp as a Ginsu knife.

As providence would have it, we worked in middle management and it allowed us time to develop a profound relationship. We spent time getting to know the backgrounds of each other and the dreams and aspirations that shaped our individual personalities. We engaged in group-like conversations on many evenings after work. We were determined to raise our intellectual and economic circumstances. Our discussions focused mostly in two areas: politics and business.

The period of time this venture occurred was during the go-go 1980s of the real estate market. The television gurus were in full flavor in their bombarding the airwaves with instant avenues to riches. Real estate became the topic of discussion along with network marketing, mail order, herbal life, life call, wireless cable, mutual funds, the stock market, night clubs, and insurance. But the dominant venture was real estate.

Our group was divided into two camps: the real estate investors and procrastinators. The real estate camp set out to educate itself while the procrastinators continued investigating every minute detail of possible opportunity. Although people like Tony Hoffman, Ed Beckley, Robert Allen, Albert Lowery, Tyle Hicks, Russ Whitney, Wade Cook, Hollis Norton, Hal Morris, and Carlton Sheets dominated the television air time, none of their appeal could pierce the armor of the procrastinator’s camp.

Stacy and I sort of drifted away as we tried developing our system that would require a minimum amount of cash. We thought real estate with a little knowledge would accomplish this. So, we set out to learn as much as we could.

We were fixated by the messages that came from the real estate gurus. That seemed to us our opportunity to get a piece of the American dream. We bought books and tapes from all the famous and not-so-famous. Over the course of a year, we watched about every real estate television show on cable and bought every cassette or video tape, as well as every newsletter, magazine and book. Thus, our real estate education amounted to a crash course that covered all aspects of residential real estate—single family, duplexes, apartments, and multi-unit complexes.

Our study habits complemented each other’s. Stacy was the visual-orator person while I was the reader. In other words, Stacy bought video tapes and attended seminars and I simply bought books. Our main source of materials were the TV guru’s products; however, we incorporated other sources of materials. We also spent time in the media center reading real estate magazines and newsletters that Stacy subscribed to. Stacy also ordered cassette tapes that he eventually lent to me.

Finally, Stacey and I gained enough knowledge—and courage—to try some of the methods. One week it was foreclosures. Another week it was bank repossessions, followed by Veterans Administration and Farmers Home Administration repossessions, as well as properties for sale by owners.

The only thing left to do was make some offers. The books and tapes had copies of all the documents necessary to accomplish the task. But before offers could be made, properties had to be found; the criteria for properties fell into specific categories to ensure the best cash flow possible.

The system laid out by the gurus was first locating possible properties with owner financing, low down payments, low monthly payments, a motivated seller and, most of all,