All Forum Posts by: Brad Cogswell

Haha well @Chris Mason like I mentioned I haven't been in that world for a few years, but I can definitely work to point people in the right direction.

One of the mistakes I've heard people make (I think on a BP podcast) is that from 1-10 units they don't factor in the cost of a property manager, but then when they get above that "magic number" all of a sudden it becomes too much to handle and they bring a company on. At that point their proformas didn't factor in property management expenses (because they had been doing it on their own) and the cash flow is reduced substantially. Something to keep in mind as you weigh the pros/cons... 

At the end of BP podcasts, they ask every guest what their favorite RE books are. Start grabbing those and spend time every day going through one. After you get through a couple you could have the basics down and start being more selective about the different niches in real estate that you want to learn more about.

@Ray Warda - welcome. Would be great to hear about what you learned in the past and how you're going about it differently. You should post it up sometime! I used to live down in Newport - missing the beach and weather down there!

Hey all,

New to the forums - currently living in San Francisco and starting to get into residential investing. My background was originally in commercial real estate finance - I started my career at Wells Fargo with their Real Estate Banking Group, then went and built a CrossFit gym in Thailand, and am now back working in the tech scene in SF.

My main goal right now is to do my first deal this year up in the Northern California markets. I've been focusing on Sacramento and Solano areas, but have also been digging more into Fresno and Bakersfield. It would be great to connect with anyone experienced in those markets.

I know that I'll be asking some questions and looking to meet others doing the same, so with that in mind, here's what I can help out with:

At Wells, my role was first as a financial analyst and then as an Associate. I worked with high net worth investors/developers in Orange County including Irvine Company, Craig Realty, Shea, and ICI. I did over $400MM in debt financing and have a lot of experience analyzing both the balance sheets of these companies/guarantors as well as larger commercial real estate projects. If you have any questions about what a bank like Wells is looking for or how they would look at you as a borrower/guarantor, feel free to ask and I'll do what I can to help out.

Looking forward to getting involved here.

@Kevin Kite - was scrolling through the new member introduction and saw you were one of the only posts that no one had commented on... so from a fellow new guy welcome. I'm also in California (Northern), good luck as you get started.