Focus for newbie commercial investor?

[Nathan Recchia]

Hi there, 

A quick backstory, I left my former job where I was making little money and absolutely miserable with every aspect of life. My wife makes enough money so that we can comfortably make ends meet, but there isn't a lot of savings opportunity. I decided to jump into apartment investing with both feet, just go full-time. I am very entrepreneurial and I tend to work better when I need to make something happen. 

I've always had an affinity for real estate and have always wanted to be involved with it somehow. Originally, I wanted to buy SFR but after looking at the numbers, reading, and researching a ton; I find that I am far more interested in apartments/commercial and it looks like I will definitely reach my goals faster with this.

My problem is that I've overwhelmed myself, there's so much to do and it feels like trying to eat an elephant with one bite. I have begun writing down my next 3 tasks to do to turn the whole process into a series of bite-sized steps. For you experienced investors out there, what should really be the focus for a newbie looking their first deal, keeping in mind that syndication and raising money will be necessary for me? I'm thinking I need to find someone to partner with who has some experience to help protect against losing somebody's investment money.

For my first deal, I'm looking in the South-East and for approximately a 6-12 unit apartment to start building my reputation and track record. 

Thanks everyone for all you provide here. After I gain experience I intend on becoming a contributor myself to help the next set of newbies coming up in this industry. 

[Paul Barbeau]

@Nathan Recchia

I was in exactly the same place you are in 2 years ago. I was a little more rock bottom than that though, I quit my job, sold my house and moved in with my parents for several months, feeling very beat down, self esteem was at an all time low, dedicated to finding a small apartment complex. I now have 89 units. 

Since you have lots of time now, spend it looking for distressed off market properties near you and making relationships with brokers. If you find what you think is a good deal, bring it to the local REIA group or post it on here and have some seasoned investors take a look at it to tell you if it is or not. If it is, try and partner with someone else where you are the hustle partner and they are the money partner and work out some sort of split of cashflow and profit. 

When I first started out I got a list of all properties in my area that I was interested in that would be good value add deals. You can use a database like (www.listsource.com) and you'll have to do some filtering. I hand wrote letters to the owners and this actually produced a deal that worked for me. 

PS if you take my advice and are able to find any good value add off market deals (10-100 units) in Chattanooga area I can help you or partner with you on it. 

Good luck my friend don't give up.