All Forum Posts by: Bob Starlin

So far I have found his content the least "commercial". For example, while I attend nearly every one of Brandon's podcasts and like his content very much, 25% of every podcast is a "FREAKING USED CAR SALESMAN HARD PITCH" for joining biggerpockets pro. Same problem with some of the other guys. Most of the content is to buy our book which makes me more money blah blah, while doing a video from in front of a whiteboard without a lapel mic so the video sounds like they are coming from inside a box or tin can, and these guys are supposed to be multi-millionaire real estate geniuses and they can't afford a $100 lapel mic so they can be heard properly? instant down vote.

I get it, I really do, but wow, we get it, biggerpockets is great, we love it, but as soon as he starts that gun-to-the-head sales pitch I tune out and click out.

A portion of Michael Blanks information is not really new (for the most part, some of this information has been around since at least the 80's). But he presents it very well, down to earth, diverse across many aspects of commercial multi-family and makes it understandable. Possibly because I can connect with his style and background. I am not sure if his guru program is worth it, but unless something dramatic happens, as soon as I finish my move, and stabilize our lives a bit, I am joining the deal maker program. It might be a scam, I hope not, and I doubt it, but I am going to make myself make more than a minimal effort, a serious effort of fighting the trepidation and nay-sayers generating fear and going to make something happen positive.

I can't make his seminar in Washington, but I would like to attend next year depending on where it is.

@Theo Hicks
Thank you, sir, for that excellent list.

Just in keeping with the thread, is there anything that you have found in your travels and deals, that you wish you had known about when you were just starting out that perhaps wasn't easily found or referenced somewhere? Anything jump at you in a deal from the weeds that might have been a tragedy?

Just a morbid curiosity on my part.

Thank you!
Bob 

@Bjorn Ahlblad
Thank you, sir, for taking the time to respond. All that is excellent information for a new investor to follow.

Do you have anything in particular that you wish you could warn yourself to watch for during due diligence? Something like a "gotcha" that most beginner books and newbie lists don't cover?

Thank you again for all the good information you posted in there.

Bob

@Michele B.
Outstanding! Now that airspace contingency is something that I would never have thought of. LOL. Excellent. Thank you

And you didn't sound foolish. they were excellent points and seriously appreciated. It was just a different answer for a different question :D

Thank you again.

Bob

@Michele B. Thank you, Michele, for your response.

Thank you for your thorough and well thought out response, it is much appreciated.
Please let me try and clarify a little. I am not completely new to real estate. I have bought, held and sold over 20 SFH and duplex units in my previous real estate "life" as it were.

I realize that analysis paralysis can be very real, even more so for someone like myself that needs to see numbers that I find attractive and reasonable. 

My post wasn't so much about the obvious things to look for, those are covered everywhere, and I don't mind digging for those things as needed. My post was more along the lines of things that might not be so obvious other than 50% for expenses, and check mechanicals for serviceable age remaining. Things that maybe people have been bitten by or better yet, almost bitten by but they managed to avoid... that kind of thing.

And the last part of your statement is really what I was getting at, to paraphrase, what sort of situations have people seen that they weren't expecting to find that may have been a problem.

Does that make it clearer?

Thank you again for your response, it is much appreciated and I will contact you with questions if I may. Thank you for the offer, that is very kind of you.

I wish I had known you while I was still investing in Michigan. :D

Bob

@Omar Khan Sir, your response is immensely appreciated. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I will look into that today. I was actually looking at this book on Amazon the other day, but there are so many books from so many people that all seem to be the same nonsense, I tend to shy away from "best seller" lists until some people actually recommend them.

Thank you again.

Good day everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

A thought has been running through my mind lately as I have been trying to digest as much information as I can find regarding the due diligence process for commercial multi-family units.

I am an engineer by background, and as my wife would point out, by nature I couldn't be anything else. I have to triple check all the T's for crosses and I's for dots before I will even consider thinking about moving to the next step.

I think she is embellishing a little.

Anyway, the thought that has been bothering me is that I am having trouble finding a "checklist" of due diligence items to watch for. Some obvious things are of course obvious enough even for me to see without having a giant red sign with blinking lights on it. But, I am wondering has anyone put together a basic or advanced checklist for people to get started with? I expect there are some in the "for sale - join my investing course for $2000 to $50000" packages, but I would think there has to be something out there to get started with that doesn't require 3000 hours of reading to piece-meal from 3000 topics.

At any rate, more importantly than that, for all of you heavy hitters and longtime investors that have seen it all before, what would you tell yourself to watch out for, if you could go back and tell yourself when you were just getting started to be watchful for?

I know never to trust or believe a sellers proforma or a brokers assurances that "this is a great deal"... unless you are the seller and it is your proforma of course *cough*, but what would you say are the hairiest items that people tend to miss?

Any idea?

Thanks for your indulgence.
Bob

@Rob Drum Excellent response Rob, thank you. 

@Doug Pretorius Thank you for that Doug. I am a big fan of lease options, but I just hadn't been thinking of them as a specialty tool for contraction strategies. 

Good afternoon everyone,
I have a question for anyone/everyone that is willing to ponder it.

I have been looking for something posted on strategies and techniques for positioning yourself for taking advantage of market contractions and downward curves etc.

There has been a lot of talk and articles written (for over a year now) about the impending "bursting real estate bubble". For any number of reasons, people have been predicting it going back to 2015 from what I have seen. There are as many people claiming it's imaginary or we shouldn't worry about it, which is fine. That isn't really what I am asking for a debate about.

Whether you believe it or not, eventually it has to happen. So, let's assume for just the scope of this conversation, that it has started, based on the indicators that are starting to come in, regarding inventory, interest rates and so forth. Again, I don't really care if everyone thinks it is or isn't actually starting the contraction.

What I want to know is, what is the smart strategy for real estate when it is happening? How should we be positioning ourselves for when it happens?

I am curious to hear from those of you that were active in the commercial real estate during the last recession and how you weathered the shock and pushed through it. What would you liked to have been able to do differently if you had known it was coming in 6-12 months?

The only strategy I have seen so far, and I forget who provided it, was to try and clear as much debt as possible on single family homes and pre-qualify for HELOCs of other lines of credit to be able to start buying at the downside of the cycle.

One person mentioned in a facebook group I am in, essentially, "don't worry about it, just hold everything tight and wait it out, it will correct itself."

One problem with hold through the rough times is it doesn't really position you to take advantage of the market to advantage. Perhaps I didn't mention it in the diatribe above but while protection of your current holdings is majorly important, it isn't everything, unless you play the ultra-conservative playstyle. At my age, I tend to drift that direction, but I am looking at how to position myself to take advantage of the contraction and am trying to find any other techniques than "Build up as much cash as you can and buy discounted". 

That technique works in any market so it really isn't specific to market contractions or bear real estate markets.

Does anyone have any suggestion on resources for profiting from bear real estate markets?

Sorry for the long ramble. But I would like to hear opinions if you have them. Thank you.

Bob