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Joshua Freed Interview: How He Got Into Real Estate Investing

joshua freed interview how he got into real estate investing

Joshua Freed Interview

CEO, Equity Capital Inc.

Joshua Freed serves as the CEO of Equity Capital Inc., a company focused on acquiring projects at discounted values with the assistance of outside investment sources. He is philanthropically minded and has assisted in building health centers in Kenya as well as helping to install several wells for the villages without clean and accessible water sources.

How did you get into real estate?

I started in land development 17 years ago, first with small projects, and then I built larger projects that required additional investment sources and complex transactions. In almost two decades of real estate experience, I’ve learned to value the impact behind planning for a project, laying the groundwork, and seeing it come to life. It’s been a fulfilling journey. I’ve learned that understanding the market and the codes in a jurisdiction you’re working in will keep you ahead of the pack. 

Where does your focus lie when you’re not leading new real estate development projects?

I have five children, and that’s really helped me prioritize work and life. My wife and I are dedicated to serving—close to home and abroad. We have participated in a number of international missions and we do our best to model that philanthropic, service-centered mindset for our children. I do enjoy fly fishing as well, and I am a drummer. I am a member of the Rotary Club and Kiwanis, and my heart is really with helping others and meeting needs they cannot meet with their current resources.

Can you elaborate on your philanthropic endeavors?

We’ve actually served in Kenya for nearly a decade. On our first trip, my wife and I helped build a health center from the ground up. That center now provides free health services to the Maasai tribe in Kenya. From that first visit, it was evident that they were in desperate need of water, so my family has spent the last ten years working to install wells in Kenya. We just returned recently to install another well. Each well provides water to close to 1,000 people. 

From that work, we became involved in improving a spring that was up in the mountainous regions in the Maasai Mara area. That spring will provide clean water for the 100 to 150 families—close to 800 people—in the area. The spring was being contaminated by the waste from lions, zebras, giraffes, and all the wild animals using it. When the people used the very same water the animals were stomping around and defecating in, they would repeatedly contract intestinal diseases from the unclean water. 

How are these wells dug and how do you collect the funding?

We have worked with missions and other 501c3 initiatives to build each well. The cost is anywhere from $40,000 to $50,000 to drill them down to the solid bedrock, about 600 to 800 feet, and then build a solar-powered tower that will charge the pump. The pump brings water to the surface into water tanks where people can access it. The projects we’ve worked on typically provide between 800 and 1200 people with water. Each village brings in about 10% of the cost and we help provide the balance through donations and fundraising. 

Have you participated in other mission work?

We’ve worked in the Philippines as well over the last 26 years. We’ve completed many different projects there, from building health centers to educational initiatives, including the International Deaf Education Association, which supports students, K through 12. In many areas of the world, people see deafness as a significant impairment or something that is “wrong” with kids. The International Deaf Education Association helps educate parents and communities on the needs and abilities of the deaf community as part of its support resources. Once people understand and embrace their children, those children learn these new and amazing skills and their lives turn around. It’s important to us—to my wife and kids—to help by serving others and bettering their circumstances.

How does your family participate in these mission activities?

My wife and I have taken our five kids on multiple mission trips in both the Philippines and Kenya. We will continue to do so to give back to those in desperate need. We prioritize faith and family in all we do, and our work at home and abroad is an extension of those foundational values and beliefs. Our position allows us to serve others, and we are teaching our children the value of service before all else. 

Key Takeaways

  • It’s invaluable to keep pressing forward, every day, against the headwinds that will inevitably come your way. 
  • The ups and downs of the real estate market can be extremely challenging, but understanding the broader market as well as its unique regional facets is key to maintaining and performing well. 
  • It’s important to focus on goals each day and take steps, big or small, toward meeting them. 
  • For those looking to start their own real estate company, keep moving. Don’t stop or give up.
  • When expanding a business or seeking to help others, remember, no one succeeds alone. It takes working collectively to achieve great things. 
  • Tap into the inspiration that family and worthy causes provide. It’s life-changing and a sustaining force in a challenging world.
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