Life After Ball. New Investor from Southern California

[James Hill III]

You are all extremely busy running your own businesses and living your own lives, so I would like to thank you in advance for being here and giving me a moment of your time.

I am Jimmy Hill. I don’t have all of the answers. I will never pretend to have such. It just isn’t in my nature, nor has it ever been.

Like all members of the BP community, I have goals and ambitions (Laughably large and ambitious to some/honestly most) for the life and legacy that I plan to leave. With confidence, I can say that real estate is my vehicle. I am here to learn, connect and develop with like-minded individuals. Individuals who are on the path to leading an extraordinary life.

The California coast is all that I have ever known and I don't take it for granted one bit. I am originally from the Monterey Bay, but currently reside in the South Bay Los Angeles/ Long Beach area.

I was raised “on the fence”, in the sense that I was exposed to much prosperity and poverty growing up. I remember as a kid, going to birthday parties/sleepovers in the housing projects one weekend, and then doing the same in multi-million dollar estates the next.

Competitive sports,however, leveled the playing field for me and afforded me invaluable opportunities that I am eternally grateful for. I thrive in competition and do well in anything on land with a ball...the water is a whole different conversation! Baseball allowed me to travel and build a network all over the country. Most importantly, baseball gave a kid who was raised by a working class single-mother the opportunity to graduate from a private university (Loyola Marymount) without a dime of student debt!

Although I have accumulated many accolades and accomplishments in my athletic career, I knew that playing a game for a living wouldn’t last forever. While in school, my plan was always to get my real estate license once I graduated and to become an agent. However, once I hung the cleats up, I began to dive deeper into real estate and stumbled upon BP, shifting my aspirations. I discovered the beauty of generating lasting, generational wealth through RE investing and came to the realization that you don’t need a license to succeed in real estate.

My plan and vision is to build a real estate investing business, specializing in the syndication of cash-flowing, multi-family deals in emerging markets. I know that commercial RE is all about the deal and less about the financial qualifications of the investor(s), however, how would you guys recommend building credibility as a novice investor? For those that have syndicated larger multi-family deals, what have your experiences been in getting started?

Also, after months of absorbing information through books, podcasts, a few lunches/coffees, an expo and a workshop, I finally went out to my first REIA meetup last month! I am currently scheduling to attend my next meetup and would love and appreciate any suggestions on which events in the Long Beach/South Bay LA/North Orange County areas you guys have attended.

Thank you again for your time and I am looking forward to embarking on this journey together!

[Kiersten Vance]

Hi James! Welcome to Bigger Pockets and congrats on starting on your adventure. I would definitely recommend starting with a few small projects before embarking on a larger deal. Maybe a couple duplexes, buying your own home instead of renting, trying out Short term rentals. In my opinion, if you don’t have any experience or a large amount of cash, you don’t bring much to the table on a partnership for a larger deal. Would be happy to chat with you more. I live in Cypress, Ca just a few minutes from Long Beach and am very familiar with this area.