If you could sit down with a 40yr RE veteran, what would you ask?

[David S.]

Hi BP Community -

Last weekend I met a friend's dad at a dinner, and we had a great chat about real estate. Turns out he's a 40-year RE veteran who works for a large family-run firm that owns & manages 150 rental properties in Manhattan. We got on to the subject only bc he asked me what I do, and instead of telling him about my current unrelated job I instead told him about my goal to get into multi-family rehab & rental over the next few years. It was like the stars aligned and I think he could be a great contact.

I followed up with him today and suggested we meet for coffee so I could learn more about what he does, and maybe bounce a few ideas off him. At a minimum I think he could be a good sounding board to poke holes in my thinking. At most he could be a potential mentor or investor. He invited me to come visit his office over the next few weeks.

I started to put together some questions but figured it might be a good subject for the BP forums. So I ask you, friends: if you were looking to get started and had an opportunity to sit down with a seasoned vet who has spent decades in this industry, what questions would you ask?

As a point of background, I live in Brooklyn and am looking to build a team to start buying and rehabbing multi-family properties. I have done two deals already (i.e. buy, rehab, rent, sell) and would like to transition over the next few years from my current job in finance to working on RE full time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, and as a bonus if you have a good question that I ask and get a good answer, I’ll make sure to share it with you.

Food for thought!

Thanks,

Dave

[Shmuel Harris]

@David S.

Hey David,

I think this is a great topic for BP. Thanks for sharing with us.

1) I would love to hear what your contact thinks about the NYC market versus elsewhere in the country.

It would be really cool if he has experience outside of NYC when it comes to RE investing. I always feel like a lot of the content here on BP doesn't translate too well to NYC. I am curious if other investors agree with me.

2) Also, I am curious to hear how his firm strategizes when it comes to apartment investing in NYC. I would be surprised if they are covering their mortgage with the rental income. I am curious if they still invest only in apartments and if so, how they structure their deals.

Please keep us updated!

Oh and Enjoy!