The 22 Tactics to Go from a Corporate Job to $130M in Multifamily

On May 18th, 2017, I was on the other side of the mic when I was interviewed on the BiggerPockets podcast, one of the most downloaded real estate podcasts in the world.

During our conversation, we covered 23 different topics on how I went from my corporate job in advertising to controlling $130,000,000 in multifamily real estate.

Below are a list of the 23 topics discussed, and I’ve included hyperlinks for each. Clicking on a link will send you directly to the time in the conversation when the topic was discussed. That way, you can skip around and find exactly what it is you are looking for.

If you want to listen to the interview in its entirety, click here.

7:20 – My corporate background in New York prior to buying my first investment property

11:44 – Why I began investing in single-family homes in my hometown of Texas while continuing to work my corporate job in New York.

13:44 – How I purchased my first deal in 2009 without ever visiting the property

17:00 – Tactic: How to invest in out-of-state real estate without viewing the property

21:40 – Pros and cons of investing virtually

23:13 – Why I quit my job and transitioned to large multifamily investing via syndication

26:30 – Tactic: Shifting your mindset when making the leap from small to large investing and how I found my first apartment deal

31:04 – Tactic: 3 factors for qualifying a multifamily market

33:58 – What’s the strongest multifamily market in the nation?

36:20 – My overall real estate investing goal and why it’s cannot be all about the money

37:40 – Outlining how I completed my first deal: What comes first, the deal or the money?

40:53 – The Master Lease: Pros and cons of buying apartments with a master lease and why it benefits the buyer and seller

47:50 – Tactic: How to leverage your existing network to raise private money for your apartment deals

54:15 – Why putting your own “skin in the game” results in additional alignment of interest with investors

55:32 – Tactic: How to find off-market deals in a hot market

59:25 – Three ways I, the syndicator, make money on the deal?

1:01:52 – When underwriting deals, what metrics/criteria must an apartment meet in order for me to invest?

1:03:54 – Difference between economic occupancy and physical occupancy

1:04:20 – How do I find on-market and off-market deals?

FIRE ROUND Q&A

1:08:09 – Question #2: “I’ve been discussing potential investment opportunities in apartment syndications with my network. The toughest objection I’m coming across is ‘what if I need to get my money out early.’ How do I overcome this?”

1:09:16 – Question #3: “What are the downsides to apartment buildings with only 1-bedroom units?”

1:10:46 – Question #4: “How do I check to see if an investor group is real and not a slick organization trying to steal my money?”

If you have any comments or questions, leave a comment below.