Author Archive
The Devil’s In the Details
Posted on October 3, 2017 bySince being involved in investment real estate I have seen an unbelievable amount of disregard to details. At first I was surprised given that purchasing a house was such a large investment. These errors and/or lies range from rehab estimates to after repair values. Sometimes the information is an error like a typo or lack of knowledge. Other times it’s the seller, usually a wholesaler, attempting to hide the truth or sugar coat a bad situation. So like a carpenter, make sure you measure twice, sometimes three times, before you cut.
A few days ago, I received an email from a wholesaler that usually mass emails marginal deals. This time the numbers were horrible. Here is an example of what the real estate numbers looked like: Read More→
Consistency
Posted on August 7, 2017 byToday after leaving a meeting I was approached by an investor that asked where I found my leads. I answered by giving him a few examples of where I received my most recent listings. By seeing the look on his face, I could tell that he didn’t like my response. I think he believed I was holding out and not wanting to share or there was something special I was doing which was/is not the case.
Like this gentleman and probably like many of you, I once too believed there was a magic bullet/formula to successfully finding a lead in real estate or anything. After speaking with many “experts” I found out that there is no such thing as a magic bullet. In fact, the only thing that really separated a bad or good investor from a great one was/is consistency. The better question is, what should I do on a consistent basis to make me successful in real estate investing or anything else? Once you know what to do consistently, and you actually do it, you will be successful. Read More→
Leveraging Relationships to Expert Status
Posted on July 10, 2017 byI am sure you’ve heard the phrase “fake it till you make it” but I have never believed in this. I have found more success in being the real you. Even if it means that you don’t know what you’re doing in something you’re looking to pursue. This belief continues to work to this day. As I mentioned before, I am in the process of immersing myself in commercial real estate (CRE) as a broker and investor.
I spent many hours learning from Google, YouTube and a few podcasts. I invested the time in learning more to insure this was something I am interested in doing. Just because a person likes residential real estate does not mean they will like commercial and vis-versa. Once I was certain I wanted to do CRE I started to reach out to practitioners and investors. Obviously, I picked the brains of those in my immediate network during social gatherings but I did not have serious conversations with them until I was committed. I make it a point not to waste people’s time or my own because I learned, a long time ago, that time is too valuable. Read More→
Where’s the Money?
Posted on June 5, 2017 byThe first thing you may have learned when you became interested in real estate investing was either the concept of other people’s money (OPM) and/or leveraging. These are key concepts to learn early so you can invest and grow faster. However, not many people show you how to find money and if you find money, how to leverage it.
There are many ways to go about finding money for your real estate investments. The easiest and guaranteed way that I know how to find money to fund real estate deals is to have solid deals. While wholesalers and some investors try and do peddle properties with slim to no margins, these types of deals will not guarantee you any respectable funding. You want to find investment properties that are at least 70% of market value minus repairs. By repair, I mean that the estimated repair budget is enough to transform the investment property into the home you are using to value the property. I bet that if you have a deal that meets this criteria you can find the funds to fund it. When you begin to look for funding you want to know you have a true deal. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT take another person’s information as being correct. Do your own due diligence. The last thing you want to do is attempt to raise money with a property that is not a deal. Read More→
Master Due Diligence
Posted on May 1, 2017 byI have always been surprised by the lack of time investors, wholesalers and even real estate agents put into properly advertising an investment deal. They all invest an endless amount of time and money on contracting a deal, only to drop the ball on the advertising side. Many times you can take the numbers, CMAs, spreadsheets, etc. that are used to advertise a property and in a few minutes pick the deal apart. Maybe it is a lack of time or knowledge but unfortunately I feel most of the time it is an attempt to mislead or just make a paycheck. Sometimes the info looks so well put together and impressive that it might even slip by an experienced buyer. Therefore you must know your numbers.
If you are a wholesaler, investor and/or real estate agent you really need to know your numbers. There is not a day I do not receive a wannabe deal that looks good at first glance. However, once I take a closer look, it is as bad as the ones I just deleted. Let us start with the most obvious mistake, the numbers. So the very first thing I do is add the recommended repairs plus the asking price and divide it by the estimated after repair value (ARV). I like for this number to be between 70%- 75% loan to value (LTV). Nowadays, this number is 80%+ which is usually not worth the headache unless the property value is higher. But even then, I try to stay away from that high of a LTV. Heck sometime the property is marketed at one LTV when it is a completely different LTV. Read More→
Doing Equals Results
Posted on April 3, 2017 byA few months ago, I began learning about and got more involved in apartment investing. I wrote about the steps I took to make industry contacts while building credibility. Fast forward to now and my work is definitely paying off. In many ways, the results I was looking for are coming to fruition but there are also other results, that I did not expect, that are appearing as well.
Some results I expected from my efforts were credibility, partnerships, maybe a mentor, an actual deal, financing and much more that will definitely come with patience and more work. At the beginning I thought credibility was going to the hardest part but it was not. Because I had done my homework and took the time to learn this niche, the people who I spoke with respected the dedication. Another surprise was that all my single family investing actually carried some credibility of its’ own into the apartment investment crowd. From many articles, podcasts, videos, etc. I was led to believe that the multifamily crowd looked down on the single family residential (SFR) investors but it simply was/is not true. In fact, while SFR investing is not a prerequisite, there are many ex- SFR investors who invest in multifamily. These are the people that relate to my current situation and have been eager to provide information and guidance. These relationships have grown into discussions around partnerships and potential financing. While I have still not identified an official mentor I am treating all the assistance I am receiving from multiple investors as a mentorship. This also gives me the opportunity to discuss one aspect of apartment investing with multiple investors so I can then try and decipher which information is best for me and/or which information I personally want to apply. While I have not actually found a multifamily deal that I personally like, I have underwritten many properties. Just like SFR investing, it’s a numbers game. Read More→
You Get What You Accept
Posted on March 6, 2017 byIf you ask my investors, private lenders, contractors, buyers, sellers, friends etc. to describe me, which I did, they will all tell you that I am easy to work with, a nice guy, dependable, hardworking and focused/ determined. These were the most common replies. To be honest I was a bit surprised. I expected the hardworking, dependable and focused, I was happy to hear nice guy but easy to work with was not on my radar.
Easy to work with was not something I would have used to describe myself so I decided to investigate. When I partner with other investors and/or private lenders I try to include in the agreement that I will be the final decision maker when it comes to renovations. Obviously, this does not always happen but I try. I do not do this to be controlling. I like it this way because everyone gives their opinions to me or the assigned person and that person makes a decision and executes. This keeps the project moving along smoothly. I’m also the person who actually reads through agreements and lender documents so if there is something that does not add up I make sure it is corrected and/or honored. There have been many instances where I have called the private lender to correct the documents his/her attorney sent that contained terms that were not agreed upon. I would have thought they would have said I was picky or a difficult partner or borrower but it was quite the contrary. They appreciated the fact that I was detailed and understood that I was simply making sure I got what was agreed. One person said that this actually made them even more comfortable with lending me money. Read More→
Master Problem Solving and Close More Deals
Posted on February 6, 2017 byHaving met with numerous new investors and/or wholesalers, I am always asked, “How do I get more properties? Where can I find more deals? What kind of marketing do you do to get leads?” The questions continue with the same idea in mind. I understand that you are eager to start and begin marketing in order to get your first deal done, but are you truly ready? In most cases I would say, NO.
Marketing is not cheap and you may be throwing away money if you do not have a good foundation in sales, or better yet problem solving. Over the years, I have made more money solving problems than “selling” a person on selling me their property. In fact, I am rarely the highest bidder. I attribute this to being able to come up with the best solution to the seller’s problems. Most would assume that the property for sale is the problem but many times that is only the start. Usually a person is selling a property to get rid of a headache and/or to realize a profit in order to solve another lingering problem. Problems can be as small as not being able to repair the property to as big as being behind a year or more on mortgage payments. Let me give some examples to demonstrate what it is I am referring to. Read More→
Know Your Guru
Posted on January 9, 2017 byWith the internet, fake news and social media anyone can create a persona and/or a story and have people believing it is true. With a great marketing plan, a website, paid likes, paid followers, a cheap book on Amazon written through research as a top seller and some know how you can be the next real estate guru. And who knows, maybe you end up knowing more IN THEORY than actual successful investors but it would only be in theory. Therefore, you should be cautious of who you are giving your money to and more importantly who you are learning from. Here are a few questions you should ask along with a few acceptable answers.
The number one thing to do is find referrals. I do not mean the testimonials on their website, unless you personally know of that person in your market area, but someone in your local REIA that has used that person and has hopefully had success. Ask them if the guru and/or their program provided what it advertised. However, also keep in mind that you have to ask detailed questions to find out if that person actually implemented the program. For this reason, you want to find as many referrals/users as possible. Eventually you will begin to notice a consistency that the program was not as advertised, good but lacked content, ok for a beginner, not worth buying, terrible or maybe so bad they will give you the content. Read More→
Use What You Know to Grow
Posted on December 5, 2016 byIn the last article, I briefly discussed the beginning of my venture into apartment investing. I encouraged people to do some self-learning before going to networking events so you have a better idea about what is going on. While attending plenty of networking events and having a handful of meetings, I realized that you may have something the person you are looking to for advice wants to learn from you. This works out great because in all my articles I discuss the importance of win-win scenarios.
Let me explain what has happened in my pursuit in learning how to invest in multi-family. First, most multi-family clubs or gurus want you to spend $5,000-$25,000 for them to teach you how to invest in multi-family. The lower end is reasonable but you don’t get much and the higher end is crazy. I’d rather take that money and be a limited partner in an actual deal. Keep in mind I am referring to multifamily with a purchase price of at least 1MM and/or 50+ units. I have participated in much smaller multifamily properties. Luckily, I found some great people that I hope will be able to teach me what I need to learn to be successful. They told me it was not worth investing that much when they were willing to do it in exchange for my time and expertise. Read More→
Self-Learning to Network
Posted on November 7, 2016 byThe last month or so I have been looking more and more into investing in apartments. However, I did not attend local MeetUps or other groups dedicated to apartment investing until this week. I self-educated as much as possible through books, podcasts, YouTube video and articles. I did this to prepare for the meetings and it paid off.
The reason I learned as much as possible before attending these apartment investing meetings was so I can understand what was being discussed. I have led single family investment groups in the past and caught myself speaking over many of the attendees. It was not done intentionally but because I had been doing it for so long I was doing it unconsciously. I have also seen other instructors and speakers do the same thing. Read More→
Take Action Now!
Posted on October 3, 2016 byFor the last few years I have been giving out advice on how to invest in real estate. On top of that I have been giving out the content for free. However, there are a large number of you who have not or will not take action. At some point you have to take everything you have learned here and everywhere else and take action. Do not be another “paralysis by analysis” type.
The number one thing that you need to do is find a deal. A real deal that anyone would buy, finance and/or want to partner on. In most markets that I am in that magic number is currently 70% LTV minus repairs, sometimes 75% LTV minus repairs. Many would say that these deals do not exist but I am purchasing at least one on these deals each month. You do have to do due diligence on plenty of not so attractive properties but if you look at enough properties you will find a deal. When you find a deal, do not hesitate to write the contract and lock the deal up. Take ACTION! If you write an option contract you have nothing to lose but the option money, which can be as low as $10 but usually $100. This is where your negotiation comes into play. During this option period you will do more extensive due diligence and discover if you really do have a deal. Read More→
