All Forum Posts by: Marcus Auerbach

Have not, but LVP comes in the 3 usual price brackets: cheap, medium, premium. As long as you stay away from cheap, you'll be fine (and even cheap is kind of okay..)

Nope. 

Here is why: you would never hire yourself as a bloody rookie. Or at least you would be foolish to do so. What you are really buying when you hire a top agent is a lot of experience. Someone who has been troubleshooting 100s of deals knows what to look for and how to prevent/navigate. 

After you pass your license exam, you realize you don't know anything useful.

Most sellers will take their property off the market if they can't get the price they want. That is why real estate prices are " downward sticky". It takes an external force to make people sell, as we have seen in the aftermath of 2008 when a lot of teaser rates expired and people had to make suddenly higher payments AND at the same they they realized that their home was worth less than they owed. Otherwise, they just wait for a better market.

You always have some people how HAVE to sell for everyday reasons like a new job or a divorce and they will lower the price until that happens. But that will only result in prices to correct in 1% or 2% increments - that would have to last for many years to make a difference. Especially on markets that have increased at double digit rates every year since well before Covid.

Quote from @Austin Fowler:

Looking to learn more from people that have bought at least one multifamily property using OPM. Would love to hear the details. How did you get started? Did you have the capital ready first and then find the deal? If you found the deal first, how long did you have to raise the capital?

Austin, can you explain what this actually means in your bio? 

We teach people how to raise capital for real estate by offering fully liquid loan accounts that pay 8%. This enables you to achieve both 100% ownership of the asset and 100% finance. We can see examples of assets bought using such finance on our website. We are looking for more people to mentor.

Certainly a great strategy, low risk, low effort - nothing wrong with that, but financially not the best performance over time. Agree with Don: the ROI is pretty low.

This is basically a Dave Ramsey philosophy applied to a real estate investment. Typically, you want to grow your portfolio wide (more properties), before you grow it deep (more equity). Leveraged returns are 3x to 4x because of the leverage on your downpayment, so around 20% total ROI is pretty normal for a REI.

What I do like is the emphasis on equity vs cash flow. Cash flow is really only there to keep the lights on, equity is where the magic happens.

It always depends on the type of property - not every PM is good for (will take on) every neighborhood. Look up Weclome Home Milwaukee, Bartsch PM, Smart Asset Managment,..

Start small and expect to adjust frequently. Buying a single-family and going through the steps of renovating, then advertising and renting it out will be a good learning curve - from the ground up. This prepares you for what comes later when you scale. For example you would not even know what makes a good PM - or what you should be able to expect, if you have never done it. You can easily manage 20 or 30 units on the side before you need help, it's really not that hard. 

You are asking the question because deep down you already know the answer: you can't borrow yourself to wealth. 

People intuitively understand it's a bad idea to invest in the stock market with borrowed money. And that you can't become an overnight millionaire with 5k on RobinHood, while Wall Street professionals struggle to consistently achieve 7% per year.

But somehow the internet myth of real estate wealth from nothing survives... 

I know this sounds harsh, but before you can become an "investor" and have money to IN-vest you have to become an entrepreneur. Otherwise, there is no path forward after your first property. There will never be a second one, unless you create a source of cash, which is typically a business, even if it is just a small side hustle to get started..

First, they tell you that sounds risky and why you should not do it. 

Later, they come and ask you for money. 

And there is no good response to that; whatever you do (give or not), your relationships will never be the same.

This is one of the unpleasant downsides of success that nobody talks about. Family can be tough because you want to share your successes with the people you love. But that genuine "happy for you" can quickly turn into something else.

More and more and in recent years, and now, always. But it's not a specific amount, we just monitor fair market rent for our type of properties and I also look at annual wage growth in my State Wisconsin, as well as inflation.

Overall we try to keep up with inflation and typically stay a little below fair market rent. I want to make sure that it is always the overall best option for our tenants to stay: the best quality home for the price - compared to everything else on the market.

You can track some of the professionally operated apartment complexes in your area (typically new construction, 200+ units) and you will see that they are adjusting asking rent on a weekly basis depending on market dynamics.