Where are you looking for Multi-Family?

[Laura Heckenberg]

I've been slowly acquiring properties over the past 15 years and am ready to branch out into larger multifamily. I've been searching the MLS and Loopnet. I'm probably not getting all the properties out there and not finding any 'deals' either. Any recommendations of websites to scour would be appreciated!

[Trevor Naumann]

If I were looking for multifamily properties, I would go on Loopnet and Crexi and check out which brokers have multiple multifamily, mixed-use, mobile home park, and self-storage properties. Then, I would call them and let them know what I was looking for. After that, I would send a follow-up email regularly, probably every other week or month, and call every couple of months always during business hours.

The reason for this is that, as a broker, the majority of my investor clients are constantly calling me. This means that when I hear about a great deal or an off-market multifamily property, or even an on-market one, I know to contact them first and right away. At this point, most of them are my friends given we talk so much. Since you have not worked with these brokers before, they may not be incentivized to provide you with the best information first when they have other clients who have been paying their bills for years. However, if you come across as very professional and follow up during work hours in a predictable way, you will make yourself a desirable person to work with. Over time, they will want to get you what you're looking for.

In my experience, many of the best deals never make it to market. For example, you will see very few grocery stores on online sites compared to how many there are in a given area. This is because they are not typically bought or sold online, but through broker relationships.

That being said, my market in upstate New York is also quite behind the times in terms of tech in the industry, and it can be a bit of an "old boys' club," so relationships are everything. I hope that helps, and good luck.