Multi-Family Journey... 4-month update

[Julie Kern]

So I posted here a while back about my shift from transactional real estate (wholesaling with a bit of flipping) to multi-family acquisitions after I realized I had gotten away from what initially attracted me to real estate... buy and hold/passive investing.

I wanted to give a quick update since I got so many kind and encouraging responses to that post.   

1. Have I purchased a multi-family property yet? The answer, to date, is "no", but I'm getting close... I think.  More on that.
2. What have I done in pursuit of my first multi-family deal? 
   • I've read several books on multi-family investing and consume podcasts on the subject.
   • I joined Michael Blank's Deal Maker Mastermind which may have been one of the best things I've done in terms of education, boosting my confidence and networking with other multi-family investors.
   • I've spoken to a boatload of commercial brokers, although honestly not nearly as many as I should have.  But as I've spoken to more and more brokers, I've gotten much more comfortable having those conversations and not feeling like a poser :)
   • I spent a day touring a market that I'm interested in with a broker with whom I have fairly regular contact now.
   • I've toured a couple of multi-family properties in markets outside my local one.
   • I've submitted 4-5 LOI's on properties - again, not nearly enough.
   • I've analyzed somewhere around 60-70 deals using a multi-family deal analyzer (again, kudo's to Michael Blank for his Syndicated Deal Analyzer - love that thing).
   • Early on, I had conversations with about 8-10 lenders, even when I didn't have a specific deal to discuss, just to get a feel for their terms, what areas/types of properties they like, etc.  I highly recommend doing this - it came in handy once I had real deals to discuss.
   • I created an app in Podio to keep up with brokers and lenders: I set follow-ups so I remember to reach back out to them on a regular basis (at least the brokers) and record all the details of my conversations so I have it all in front of me the next time we speak.  
   • I've spoken or met with numerous other multi-family investors (both active and aspiring investors), many of whom I met through my BP post from 4 months ago, and learned a ton from them.
3. Why do I feel I haven't contacted enough brokers and submitted enough LOIs?
   • Sometimes I get shiny object syndrome and go do a flip (just closed one this past week :))  or decide I'm going to explore AirBnB in my area or just drop a little mail campaign to try to buy more houses to flip.  Nothing wrong with these things but they did take me off track for a bit.
   • After reading (and beginning to implement) the 4 Disciplines of Execution and Deep Work by Cal Newport (thanks @Brandon Turner, for those 2 podcasts.  They were game changers for me), I've gotten much more focused on my goal than I was there for a couple of months.  Simply defining the "whirlwind" and recognizing it for what it is has made such a difference.  And knowing that it's ok to turn off my phone, remove the distractions and go super deep into analyzing a deal and getting lost in it without feeling like I have to constantly be connected has helped so much.
4. Where am I today in my pursuit of 50 units by 12/31/2019?
   • I have an accepted LOI on a 24-unit property in a small market about 1.5 hours from where I live.
   • I should be going under contract next week on a 25-lot mobile home park about 2 hours from me.  
   • IF both of these go to closing (and there is still a whole bunch of DD to be done and financing to be finalized), that would put me at 49 "units", and get leave me 1 unit shy of my goal.
   • Both deals have some shaky areas that will need to be explored heavily during DD; I'll post with updates.

So, on a scale of 1-10, I would give myself about a 6 or so with respect to my commitment to doggedly pursuing my multi-family goal, but I'm hoping when I update this post in a month or so, I can say it's more like a 7 or 8 :)