Michael Blank's Multifamily Course??

[Sam Epperson]

Has anyone gone through Michael Blank's Multifamily investing course? Does anyone have any feedback on the quality of material and the level of preparedness you get afterwards?

I've been reading the multifamily blogs, listening to podcasts, and doing analysis for months and months now. I'm ready to take the next step and get serious with this. My goal is to make my first multifamily purchase by November 1.

I'd like any opinions on whether or not "graduates" of the course feel they need any supplemental education or experience to get them ready to make their first multifamily purchase. 

I have not made any real estate purchases yet, this will be my first, and I'd like to start big and start right. 

[James Kojo]

My 2 cents on REI education (sorry, not specific to MB!)

General real-estate education can actually be obtained quite cheap. If you listened to at least 1 hour of podcasts everyday for 3-6 months and read the best 5-10 books that discuss what you want to do, then you can learn 80% of what you need to know for a couple of hundred bucks or less.

Depending on how astute you are, after doing those two things, you would have about 80% of theory that the pros have.

The problem is in the 20% that you can't get through podcasts and books, or even seminars and online-training. In that 20% are the real rubber-meets-the-road problems that a successful real-estate investor REALLY needs to know. 

What does it mean if the inspection shows all aluminum wiring in the units? What do I do if  I actually have a budget surplus at the end of the rehab, and the lender tries to claim that I defaulted because I didn't perform the required repairs to their standards? How much do I budget for 50 squares of roofing for pre-1975 construction in Dayton, OH? Should I buy this property with flat roofs, basements, boilers and single-metered water? What is the reversion cap-rate for Lexington, KY?

The answer to those questions, and many, many more will be the difference between a great deal and a catastrophe. Real-estate transactions are highly specific, and you need highly specific advice for each one.

I have spent what most of you would consider and exorbitant amount of money on real-estate education, but not until after I had already consumed AND put into practice what I could learn for free.  Even then, I would not pay for any program that didn't come with a mentoring/coaching component, because again, you need specific advice for your specific situation.

On the other side of the coin:

If you're already contacting brokers, analyzing deals, and writing LOIs, then you should probably be investing in advanced RE education, coaching, and/or you should have a very qualified mentor (paid or not.) Almost all experienced RE investor can probably tell you that they've had at least 1 pivotal conversation or interaction or relationship that changed *everything.* Either it made/saved them 100's of thousands of dollars, or drastically changed their trajectory. Experienced mentors or partners can be game changers. Make sure you're cultivating those potential relationships in whatever form they come.

Hope that helps and sorry if that was too far off-topic!

James Kojo