All Forum Posts by: Arianne L.

@Don Spafford There are great deals for sophisticated investors like you said, but you have to know the sponsor. It sounds like you've connected to a few. You're right, a lot of the deals end up being 506c because you can get more exposure that way. Most of the deals we've done have been 506b so we've mostly worked with people we know. At the rate you're going you'll be accredited very soon I'm sure!

@Don Spafford Wow, that's awesome!! Congrats on the three 4plexes, commercial property and business! I know how much hard work it takes to do that, so much respect to you!

First we started reaching out to different people we saw from biggerpockets and other podcasts who were already doing large deals. We started talking to them and certain people (their values, investment outlooks, strategies) resonated more with us. We then started investing passively as limited partners. That allowed us to learn a lot of how the deal is structured, how it was acquired, the financing, and we saw the value add components done as part of the deal. From then, we joined a mastermind group and started partnering with people in the group as part of the general partner / sponsorship team. 

Definitely. Just like with the small multis, once you get your first duplex/triplex/fourplex, the next 2-5 almost come automatically. I actually feel the snowball is a little faster in the large multifamily space because you have other team members who help speed the snowball process up.

@Bryan S. awesome!! Looking forward to meeting you there! You're in for a treat for your first conference :)

@Fernando E. thank you for the kind words brother.  Anything you think and believe you can achieve! 

I look forward to seeing your growth over the next few years. And yes, I'd love to do a deal together in the future :) 

@Stephanie Salas small world! I used to work across the street from FWB Medical center. Our patients typically come from there. I have not looked into the Idaho market. I recommend looking for local meetups and talking to other investors in that market.

@Sean H. there's a lot of questions there so I'll chip away at them over the next few days. I'll start with your biggest question

We use our capital and also partner with investors who get a return on their capital (both in the flip business and multifamily business.) That's the secret, we work with others and share the wealth!

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Yes, we do have full time employees like I mentioned in the initial post. We have 10 team members including Chris and myself (we also have a full time virtual assistant in the Philippines so really I should've counted 11). Yes, employees get paid, and our team members get paid well. I don't think of it as "cutting into capital" though, I see it as an investment into our people and our business. We have amazing team members who make this all possible. I couldn't do it by myself. 

I agree with "they are loss before they are a gain". It takes a lot of time to find good people, and it takes more time to train them. I've interviewed, hired, trained, managed, and let go of a LOT of people over the last few years. But its worth the effort to find the great team members we have now. And we are still looking for more! That's what I spend most of my time on in the business - hiring, training, managing, motivating

"your exponential growth didn't skip a beat" - 1. we work really REALLY REALLY HARD! and we hit a lot of struggles/hurdles/failures and we just keep getting back up 2. have great friends, mentors, consultants who have helped us see where we're weak, and help us course correct when needed, lift us up when needed, etc.

"I've failed over and over again in my life - and that is why I succeed" Michael Jordan

(i'll be back to answer the rest of your Qs :))

@Christine Myers I've tried editing it before but BP doesn't let edits after 15 minutes. The link I posted has discount pricing 500 for 1 ticket and 700 for 2 tickets. 3 day of event space at the Hilton Bayfront in San Diego isn't free unfortunately

I paid 3x that amount 3 years ago to go to the event. And I am paying for myself and team members to go this year. It's a great event for anyone who wants to have a real estate business

@Armel Bayot awesome. We've got a fast action taker here :). That book helped me get a LOT of things done.  Another few tips that applies for newer and not so new investors

4) Have Integrity - Do the RIGHT thing. 

-real estate is so powerful because of LEVERAGE. 

-people usually think that means bank financing. But, the REAL LEVERAGE comes from PEOPLE. You get to leverage their experience, net worth, connections, influence, etc.

-we've had so many people lie, cheat and steal from us - contractors, past employees, other "investors". Which is really just sad, cause what they don't realize is they traded their integrity for a few thousand dollars and slightly quicker paycheck. They repel others who have it, and ones with integrity are the people who have been and are still in it for the long haul. 

-do the right thing. Even if its slower in the beginning, believe me, it's worth it in the long haul.

5) FOCUS

- think of any business venture - real estate or otherwise - like trying to light leaves on fire with a magnifying glass. If you keep moving the magnifying glass, you'll NEVER catch a single leaf on fire. But if you hold it still for long enough, that one leaf will catch fire, then you fan the flames and leave it, and move on to the next leaf

- Most people get too distracted. They try to do everything and end up doing NOTHING. 

"I want to buy rentals... oh wait I want to flip houses... no no I want to wholesale houses... I'll set up an airbnb... I'll buy apartment complexes."

- all of those things are great businesses. But PICK ONE first. FOCUS on it, make sure the business is running and can sustain itself, then focus on your second thing.

@Brent Kawakami thank you for all your help my friend. Congrats on the recent Atlanta deal!  Looking forward to buying a lot of apartment complexes with you :)

@Ola Dantis thanks! I love your podcast. Great to see you are crushing it as well! Congrats on the recent Houston Deal :)

@Zk Lani 8th unit? That's awesome!!! Congrats!! You'll get 100 units in no time! If you find some larger multifamily there, hit me up. I love working with action takers! :)

@Bhavani Dewan 

there are typically 4 major components to any deal, single family or multifamily, 

1) getting the deal under contract 

2) finding the money for the downpayment, closing costs, etc. 

3) financing the deal (having the credit, net worth, experience. 

4) making the business plan happen (including the value add strategy and asset management afterwards)

This applies to flips (you just don't have the asset management afterwards) and large apartment complexes. 

With flipping houses, #2 the money can be as little as $25,000. 

With large mutifamily, #2 Typically the minimum is $50,000-75,000 

Now, #1 getting the deal under contract and #4 making the business plan happen do not require any money at all. Just a lot of hard work and skill (that comes from education). 

If you don't think you have enough of #2, Focus on #1 and #4, and you will find plenty of people with #2 and #3. If you have a great deal under contract you will find plenty of partners, and/or you can sell your equitable interest to purchase.

@Armel Bayot Some tips I wish I heard or actually followed in the beginning years

1) Find like minded people you can talk to regularly who can hold you accountable to your goals and the actions needed to reach those.
-you can find them at a reia, or reach out to local investors, or even find a few people here on BP. 

-I recommend reading the 12 Week Year to help you plan actions to reach your goals. The accountability group is mentioned there as well.
-don't rely on your current circle of friends or family to do this for you. THEY WILL NOT. Sometimes they will unknowingly say things to discourage you. But that's ok, they don't mean it, they just don't know it's possible. You WILL show them it's possible.

2) DO NOT give Contractors checks upfront! Pay for work COMPLETED. We've lost so much money because of this. 

- Break the work down into chunks so they're not waiting months for payment. We pay every week for finished items.

- Some more established businesses can take credit cards for some of the upfront material they have to order, so you're at least somewhat protected

- If you HAVE to pay upfront, make sure its only a small amount. And have a plan for if you lose it. Cause you could.

3) Don't try to do EVERYTHING yourself.

- You're not the master of everything. Most of the time it makes sense to work with others to go further faster. 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. 

- Find something you are REALLY good at and you LOVE, then hone that skill, become the BEST at it. Potential partners will get attracted to you because of that! 

- When we started partnering up with others to do the large apartment complex deals things got a lot easier. And we scaled our business a lot faster! And to be honest, it's a lot more fun working with partners who share the same drive and have the same goals! 

@Nick Howard Our mailers are very simple. It changes ea month but the gist is "hi [name] have you considered selling [address]? I'd like to buy a house in the area and I'd love to give you an offer on yours.". Direct mail is alive you just have to send A LOT of mail. August we sent 75,000 pieces.

@Sean H. Unfortunately I do NOT offer coaching services. People ask me for it but I don't really want to start one.

@Bhavani Dewan congrats on the rentals! DFW is a hot market. You must've done well with them. 

While I love our house flipping business, you have to ask yourself these question first - WHY do you want to invest in real estate? What do you want your life to look like? What do you really want? Do you hate your job?

Based on the answers to those questions - your next focus will be very different. 

Have you looked at multifamily investing? We've our SFR rentals and have put those funds into multifamily - our returns are much higher, we have higher quality assets, and it also opened up the ability to scale further faster.

What I'm trying to say is - don't build a flipping business just because I did. The hours at my job couldn't let me visit family who lived halfway across the globe - that's why have have a flipping business. If I didn't feel like I had to quit my job to be with family, I would've focused first on multifamily and we'd probably be at thousands of units by now.

@Alvaro Soto thank you for the kind words. It took me years to open up. I didn't want people to pity me, or feel bad, think less of me, or misinterpret what I say, etc... but now after others have shared their struggles with me and I realized that them sharing actually helped me, I try to be more open. Hopefully it help someone :)

You've got a great cash flowing rental portfolio there in NC. Congrats!! You ARE a professional real estate investor. :). Ever considered multifamily investing? NC is a great place for it. Hope to work together on a deal with you in the future!

@Amedeo M. yeah definitely! Link up with @Hadar Orkibi he's based in New Zealand and has a lot of rentals in the US. 

I do think it'd be a good idea to partner with up with someone local to where you're going to invest so you have boots on the ground. 1. The local partner will have years of local insight on where the good areas are to buy rentals, etc. that'll save you a lot of time and headache 2. They can check on the property more often (which usually is needed in the first few months as you stabilize a new rental). A lot of people do that strategy even when they're in the US.