The Team

About SMJ Ventures

SMJ Real Estate Ventures was formed by husband and wife team Christian & Sanela Joest. Their mission is to build a profitable real estate portfolio for themselves and their investors (many of which are friends & family). We believe that passive real estate income can unlock a level of security and freedom that is difficult to find with other investments.

Before founding SMJ Ventures, Christian held multiple executive Sales & Management positions at his family’s defense industry manufacturing business, Imperial Machine &Tool Co. In 2018, Christian and his father decided to sell their business after achieving record growth in 2016 & 2017. 

After selling the manufacturing business and working for the acquiring large corporation, Christian decided to leave his position and pursue real estate investing full time.

Graduating in 2013 with a Master’s in Professional Accounting from Seton Hall, Sanela started her career at one of the big 4 accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). After spending 4 years with PwC, she decided to move away from audit taking on a role at a technology startup where she worked her way up to Director of Accounting & Financial Controller. Sanela’s extensive knowledge in finance and accounting enables her to manage financial models and adequately analyze the properties ensuring projections are met.

After realizing the power of real estate, SMJ Ventures began offering syndicated real estate investment opportunities, often in conjunction with other Operators & Syndicators.

By combining the best management practices, technology tools, and investment philosophies SMJ Ventures has been growing and generating strong returns for its investors.

If you’re interested in learning more and discussing your investment goals, please reach out today.

SMJ Ventures has implemented a refined investing strategy focused on Apartment Buildings.

  1. Buy right – Property must be providing strong cash flow upon acquisition.

    • In Multi-family Real Estate, it’s important to focus on buying properties that already provide strong cash flow without putting any improvements into the building.

  2. Reposition property, decrease operating costs, raise rent accordingly

    • Investments grow in value because property values directly increase as we invest strategically in renovations & improvements

    • Operating Costs are Reduced thanks to organized management practices, and advanced Technology tools to efficiently manage tenants

    • Investments continue to increase in profitability because we provide more value to the tenants through better management, apartment renovations and more effective communication.

  3. Refinance Property

    • We refinance the property after increasing the Net Operating Income, this allows us to return a portion of capital to investors.

  4. Cashflow property for 3-4 years

    • After returning investor capital from the refinance, we then cash flow the property for 3-4 years.

  5. Sale of property

    • After increasing the value of the property over a 5 year period, we sell the property and return the profit to the investors.