Starting Small or Starting Big?

[Jonathan Hammoi]

This is a question aimed mainly at investors who are already in the commercial space, dealing with large multi-family complexes, but that being said, advice from anyone in any niche is more than appreciated.

Basically, I'm trying to decide whether I should start off small, testing the waters with residential multi-family properties (or maybe even SFH's), or whether I should just go for it, taking the leap right into commercial multi-family properties.

My goal is definitely to own the latter; large commercial multi-family complexes rather than residential. However, I have only very basic experience in construction, and no real-life experience in owning and managing a property of any type. I'd almost certainly be doing a decent amount of rehab work, with the use of a contractor when needed but definitely some stuff myself. Nothing major but just based on what I know about my area, most of the properties could use some work. Don't get me wrong, I've read the books, articles, and blog posts, listed to the podcasts, talked with investors, property managers, and done my due diligence research in both spaces, ect. I wouldn't exactly be going in blind, but at the end of the day, I still wouldn't have any on-hand experience.

So with that in mind, what would you do if you were in my position? Forget about the funding side of things for a minute. If you had the means and the liberty to choose between residential or commercial multi-family properties, as your first investment, with no on-hand experience but a very strong desire to succeed, which would you choose?

And yes, I recently finished Cardone's The 10X Rule.