Apartment Course: Joe Fairless or Michael Blank

[Ryan Eide]

I grew up in a family owned construction business, spent a few years as a realtor, and then spent the last 15+ years in Program/Project Management at Amazon and Boeing. I am finally coming back to real estate, specifically multifamily. I spent the past 18 months reading various books, listening to podcasts, reading blogs/forums, and working on my own spreadsheets. Needless to say I haven't taken any action and have been stuck in analysis paralysis. My issues are: (1) I believe in win/win deals but to get apartments (or houses) that pencil out for me, it seems significantly less that what people can get on the market (particularly in the greater Seattle area that I am located). (2) I am not a very outgoing person unless I am comfortable (e.g., people at work would be shocked to find out that I fear going to networking events, cold calling, etc.), however I get better the more confident that I am and my confidence comes from knowing what I am doing (I'm not a good BSer). 

With that said, I'm thinking of doing an Apartment course for three reasons. (1) It will give me the womb to tomb process flow of Apartment investing along with the tools and templates to gain confidence. (2) Spending a couple thousand is more likely to incentivize me to start taking some action (along with the knowledge), even if I'm intimidated by it. (3) I am hoping that they provide some ways to obtain additional capital if I find a deal that is beyond my means. Below are the two that I narrowed it down to:

- Apartment Syndication Mastery by Joe Fairless ($3,000) https://apartmentsyndicationma...

- The Ultimate Guide to Buying Apartment Buildings with Private Money by Michael Blank ($2,000) https://ultimateapartmentinves...

Does anyone have any experience with either of these or recommend a different one?   OR, does anyone have any recommendations on Direct Mail and Cold Calling multifamily owners (or any other method of marketing that works)? I'm not looking for a get rich quick scheme and understand that this is going to take a lot of hard work. I just want to expedite my journey by paying for a proven system, with teaching, and a community to assist (this is less important as BiggerPockets already exists).

I really appreciate all of the information that the community has put up on this website and anyone who is willing to help me out.

[John Barrett]

@Ryan Eide I do not have any experience with either of these courses, but I am not sure they are going to help you to achieve your ultimate goal.  Is your goal to create a syndication and bring in other investors with you to purchase multifamily properties?

At this moment, the market for multi-family properties is extremely hot.  This seems to be true all over but is especially true here in the greater Seattle MSA.  As such, the majority of the people you would likely be targeting are already being contacted by multiple other parties trying to convince them to sell their properties.  You need to spend sometime developing your strategy for how you will compete in this market.  Some possible options could include the ability to close quickly (cash offer or hard money) or willingness to take over an asset in poor condition / occupancy.

I would focus on getting really clear on the following: property type you are interested in, your financing (include repairs if part of your strategy) and location (broaden your search to include areas with less competition).

Best of luck,

John