Role Model for Entrepreneurs: Swapnil Agarwal

HOUSTON: IACCGH member Swapnil Agarwal’s first brush with living in an apartment was when the 15 year old moved with his parents to a rundown Class C apartment complex in 1996. The teenager from India lived in what he describes as “a rough area” and an apartment that was broken into thrice.

The experience seems to have stuck with Swapnil. Seventeen years later when he would buy a multi -family property as an entrepreneurial venture and follow it up with 24 other properties, he put a high premium on security, upgrades such as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, quality fixtures and state of the art gyms to create a safe family friendly environment for residents.

Like every other Indian kid, Swapnil set out to be a computer engineer but an Economics 101 class in high school prevailed. He headed to UT Austin to major in Finance and supplemented his tuition by working at Merrill Lynch. By this time, he’d had another change of heart. He wanted to become an investment banker.

Stints at Simmons and EP Energy led to an offer in a private real estate investment firm in Hong Kong – a seven year experience that proved invaluable. However, while Swapnil’s career was on the fast track, his entrepreneurial spirit was chafing. With a baby on the way, Swapnil and his wife wanted to move back to the US and that’s when he decided to take the plunge and start out on his own. In 2013, he settled on an apartment complex on Tidwell and I45, tapped banks, family and friends for a loan and with their blessings launched Nitya Capital – a company that buys properties and Karya Property Management which manages the properties.

Swapnil quickly got schooled in the essentials of running a multi-family property. He acted on complaints about leaking roofs and running water and within 6 months increased revenues from 60 K to 90 K. There was no looking back from that point on and Swapnil along with college buddies and now partners Vivek Shah and Manish Patel own 7500 units and $500 million worth of assets spread over Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth.

Swapnil, who recently turned 35, was also invited to address the Harvard Business School – Club of Houston to share his entrepreneurial journey. IACCGH Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia describes him as a “great role model to would be entrepreneurs.”

In January 2017, Nitya Capital clinched the largest transaction in the company’s history – a portfolio of 6 properties. The responsibility for 8000 families and 350 plus employees brings its fair share of challenges but Swapnil, who clearly enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes with the challenges, wouldn’t have it any other way. His advice for those following in his footsteps is to be “willing to take the risk and relinquish a paycheck security mindset.”

Swapnil and wife Deepika are involved in several charitable organizations such as Magic Bus and Pratham as well as support two schools in India. He recharges by playing with his 3 year old son Aryan and enjoys a competitive game of tennis.