Introduction

#EntrepreneurOfTheWeekOhadSolan | Post 1

How a Twist of Fate Led Me Into U.S. Real Estate

Hey everyone, I’m Ohad Solan, 24 years old from Tel Aviv.

At 21, just a few months before my military service was supposed to end, I made a decision that even surprised me—I signed up for officer training. My service had been comfortable and pretty enjoyable overall, so I figured, why not continue?

But life had other plans.

Just days into the course, during a casual running competition with another cadet, I lost my balance on a sharp turn and slipped. The result? Two fractures in my arm and three months of medical leave. Needless to say, my time in officer training ended then and there.

At first, I enjoyed the downtime at home—but that lasted about a week. I quickly realized I needed something to keep me engaged or I’d go stir-crazy. That’s when I decided to dive into something I’d always been curious about: real estate.

I started consuming everything I could—books, podcasts, YouTube videos, articles. The topic that caught my eye the most? Investing in real estate in the U.S. I kept seeing posts about it on Facebook and wanted to understand how it compared to investing in Israel. My adrenaline was kicking in. Something about it felt right—like I’d found a calling.

After my recovery, I went back to the army. One day, on the bus ride home, I ran into a high school friend I hadn’t seen in years. We caught up, and he told me he was working in U.S. real estate, managing renovation projects from Israel for a major investor in Memphis, Tennessee.

I told him I’d been reading about the subject for weeks and was completely hooked. Unfortunately, his stop came up and we had to part ways.

A short while later, he messaged me on WhatsApp:

“Still interested in U.S. real estate?”

I replied instantly: “Definitely.”

We met up, and he told me he had left the investor he was working for—he wanted to spread his wings and start managing investments independently. Then he asked me:

“Wanna join me?”

Without thinking too much, I said yes. I had no clue how things worked, or what I was getting into—but I knew one thing: I was ready.

That’s how I got my start.

From a broken arm… to building a career in real estate in the U.S.