This story, of a Gambian orphan’s path to real estate fortune in America, is the stuff of miracles, almost beyond belief.
Born in the Gambia, in West Africa, Yamundow Camara lost her mother when she was 2 years old. She would again lose her father at the tender age of 11. Yamu, as she is fondly called, therefore didn’t have the start in life accorded to many children.
Under distress, her older sister married early to find a safety net in her husband. Her older sister took her along with her brother to her new extended family home.
But misfortune followed her to her new abode among an extended family that was foreign to her upbringing.
This story of extraordinary business acumen traces her journey from her struggles in the Gambia to her amazing success in America. Yamu buys distressed houses that people frown upon, cheaply, renovates them and rent out at a profit.
Sleeping on the dirt floor as others slept in bed.
At her new home, living with her sister and her new extended family, Yamu faced another challenge. She had a problem with bed wetting, which stuck with her up to the time she was about 15 years old.
This small biological challenge which her parents would have tolerated as they weaned her out of it, proved an Achilles heel in this household.
Yamu was told to sleep on the dirt floor for all the time she lived in this household as the rest of the children slept on beds. It would leave a permanent mark on her as a child and light up a fire within to doggedly seek, acquire, and respect property. She tearfully remembers this moment, saying, “You don’t know what pain is until you live in somebody’s house who doesn’t want you there.”
It was a background and treatment that built a focused woman of steel, never taking no for an answer, kicking her way to financial freedom.
Academic Life in The Gambia, West Africa.
The treatment in her sister’s extended family planted a seed in her. It was in these formative stages that a dream to one day own a home seized her.
She suffered by night, in her own words, “the bites of mosquitoes and bedbugs.” Many times, she says, she woke up to fight mosquitoes and the annoying bugs. By day she gave undivided attention to her academic pursuits where she emerged as a bright student.
While many of her schoolmates got married early in middle school through arranged marriages so common in the Gambia, Yamu stuck to her books. And it paid off. Through sheer hard work and unmatched determination, she became the only girl in her village to be called to college.
Not a good friend of biology, the next path available to a bright girl in Mathematics at the time was the course that was in vogue. Computer Science. She went for a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics.
The path to the United States.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Yamu started a nonprofit in college that taught young and disadvantaged girls how to program and code. Her vision was that she could change the future of these girls by arming them with basic IT skills even at the village level.
Her intellect and the success and popularity of this IT-for-Girls program made hers so famous that she was on the lips of every girl in her locality. Other people also noticed. Someone always notices those who put their hearts into things.
Friends, schoolmates, and tutors advised her to apply for President Obama’s Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. And the universe aligned.
She was accepted into the program and was placed at Northwestern University in Illinois, arriving in America in 2016. It was while here that she applied for a scholarship at the University of Illinois and won. She would read her master’s degree in business and Entrepreneurship here.
Sowing the seeds of Real Estate at the University of Illinois
One thing happened at the University of Illinois that gave her a glimpse into what opportunities existed in real estate in America.
The scholarship opportunity offered to her also included a $1000 stipend which catered for her meals and accommodation. Since this money was not enough for her to own her room, she shared rooms with 5 others and contributed her share to the part of the house she was allocated by another girl.
The house rent for the house was paid by the girl’s father. But this girl cleverly brought in other girls and allocated each of the rooms at a fee.
Yamu thought about how she could make money in the future using this method. Buying or renting one house and making more from it by giving out at rent each of the individual rooms.
Was this the spark that could lead a Gambian orphan’s path to real estate fortune in America?
Seeking information on Real Estate
Like every person who wants to do something right, Yamu sought information. She researched extensively on real estate investment. She bought books and spent countless hours on YouTube and Podcasts with information on real estate investing. She was on podcasts while washing dishes, and doing house chores, every free time.
As COVID hit in 2020, she was already in the trenches seeking information and building emotional and physical strength. These two she would need later to wiggle through the banking web in America.
The first real estate investment
The future real estate investor worked as a data analyst for the University while she studied. After graduation, she got a job to work for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as a data analyst in Atlanta, Georgia. This necessitated her move from Illinois to Atlanta.
It was at this very time that she also began her quest for real estate glory. And it began by compiling a list of all the banks she could google that served Illinois.
She scanned the distressed and out-of-state properties of Illinois, those ordinarily outside the eyes of most people. With no money to her name, she started calling her long list of banks seeking financing once she identified one.
All the banks she called said no to her because she had no credit history. The list was so long that she lost count of those she called.
But one bank decided to listen to her proposal.
Another no for a Gambian Orphan’s Path to Real Estate Fortune in America
The bank that gave a listening ear also said know, advising her to go build her credit history and come back 6 months later. But Yamu never gave up, famously saying, “am used to being told No, and this other No is not going to dampen my spirit.” She continued her property search.
A few months after the latest disappointment, she came across a house belonging to a couple going through a divorce. They were so desperate to sell and go their separate ways. Yamu noticed their desperation and decided to launch a proposal. In their desperation, they were selling the house so cheaply at $52,000.
Now gainfully employed and with a savings of $8000 to her name, Yamu approached the bank that had listened to her again. Using her vast data experience, she gathered all the data and presented a convincing case. The bank agreed. Yamu managed to slightly renovate the house and put it out for rent. The first rent came to $2000 monthly.
As she continued with her work at the CDC, she continued identifying distressed properties across America. She repeated the same process with the one bank that believed in her and with which she had built a relationship.
Extending her Tentacles
Fired up with this first purchase, Yamu was on the runway and there was no stopping her. She identified and purchased distressed properties in other parts of Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia where she works.
Armed with a hawk eye for properties people do not need and converting them into beautiful, usable properties, she scaled so first. This came through going into apartments and setting up Airbnbs during COVID. These became very popular during this period and brought her considerable income.
She also took a second job which also brought in more income. She would later leave one job, but all these efforts served their purpose. More housing units.
All she needed was a little down payment to give her trusted bank and the rest would fall in place.
In one proud and profitable moment, one Airbnb customer took a long time occupancy, paying $4400 upfront, A streak of luck that helped her finance other acquisitions. She also got COVID relief money to cover her non-paying tenants and repairs, a necessary boost during this critical time.
One key platform she used to find clients for her Airbnb was Furnish Finder.
Another big Break
The girl from the Gambia was not done. A major boost to her dreams came when she identified a set of 8 distressed apartments in Georgia. They were dilapidated, part of it was burnt down and the owner had problems with the local council. In addition, it was in a neighborhood most people didn’t like.
While the male owner still had feelings for it, his wife didn’t want anything more to do with it. She insisted it had to be sold.
Always a woman of patience and persistence, Yamu offered to walk the painful process of council approval. However long it would take. And she saw another opportunity. These apartment units were sandwiched between two hospitals. A hot cake for traveling nurses during and after COVID. After a series of negotiations and back and forth with the local council, she closed on the distressed 8-unit apartment complex for $120,000. Again, she asked her trusted bank to finance the acquisition and the renovation.
Today, the apartment unit is fully booked throughout the year by traveling nurses earning her $22,000 per month.
Real Estate Portfolio through Sobel Properties
Yamu manages her growing portfolio through her company, Sobel Properties.
She made a monthly income of $6000 in her first year of investment. This slowly rose to $80,000 by the end of year 2.
Today, she has over 47 doors in her real estate portfolio and counting. All these units bring her a profit of $80,000 per month. She has also closed on her own home in a beautiful suburb of Georgia.
She now has over $ 2 Million real estate portfolio across more than 3 states.
Famous quotes from Yamu Camara and Lessons in Business from a Gambian Orphan’s Path to Real Estate Fortune in America.
- Don’t wait to buy property, buy property and wait.
- I never have a plan B. I take the risk and go. It has to work; it has to work. Even if it doesn’t work out because it is not always success, I learn from it.
- You don’t know what pain is until you live in somebody’s house who doesn’t want you there.”
- I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.
- Her extensive research on podcasts, YouTube, and books before taking a plunge shows the importance of gaining knowledge on what you are getting into.
Conclusion on from a Gambian Orphan’s Path to Real Estate Fortune in America.
In conclusion, the life and meteoric rise of Yamu Camara carries tons of lessons on patience, persistence, and business acumen. I journey that started in 2020 with just $8000 is now worth millions of dollars.
In only two years, Yamu, through unique business skills and personal drive, waded through a difficult maze to stamp her presence in real estate America. And she did all these while just on a visa.
Now a permanent resident, she continues to build this portfolio as she gives back to the less fortunate in America and the Gambia where she was born.
Above all she says, she is proud of herself and thanks God for the amazing run she has made in a relatively very short time.
Yamu now teaches people who are interested in building wealth through real estate on how to do it safely and profitably. She can be reached through her Instagram page: @buildwealthfromrentals.
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