Saj Shah, founder

Most investors see a half-empty building with broken management and keep driving. Saj pulls over.

He cut his teeth in Detroit in 2009, buying and rehabbing homes in rough neighborhoods, on the hardest blocks, when almost nobody else would touch them. Twenty years later he brings that same nerve to Oakland apartment buildings other buyers walk away from.

In a market where many say cash flow is impossible, Saj creates it through heavy value-add work. He re-tenants underperforming buildings, tackles years of deferred maintenance, restructures operations and finds the income hiding in plain sight. Squatters, fire damage, months of unpaid rent, broken management: the complex, messy, management-intensive deals that scare off other buyers are exactly where he goes to work.

At MacArthur, he took over a property that was about 57% vacant and grossing about $33K a month in scheduled rent at close in November 2025. Today it's 98% occupied and brings in about $90K a month in scheduled gross rent as of Oct 11, 2026.

A licensed California real estate broker, Saj now holds interests in about 125 units across 11 East Bay properties, and he runs them hands-on. Where others see a problem, he sees a building worth fixing. Then he fixes it.

Off the job, he’s usually found with a book and a strong coffee, on the ski slopes, riding a motorcycle somewhere across the world, or spending time with his daughter.