All Forum Posts by: Bryan Hancock

It would be interesting to get something that discusses zip code by zip code comparisons at various price points.  These median numbers may help with general attitudes, but it really doesn't help a whole lot for active investors making any actionable decisions.  

California is notorious for trying to extract franchise taxes for syndications like this even though there are federal exemptions.  A knowledgeable securities attorney should be able to help you select the right exemption for what you're trying to achieve.

Austin's Watershed Department is and has been out of control for many years now.  Hopefully they ease restrictions, but I would expect for anything that approaches rationality to be thwarted by the all-powerful forces in Austin that have been driving up costs and prices for end-buyers for decades.  

The are some very simple changes that could be made for compatibility setbacks that would drastically change the game for many platted existing lots in the city, but politics and incompetence are likely to continue to rule in the city.  After many years of brain damage most reputable sponsors move to the city's adjacent cities to invest their time and energy.  Hopefully this all changes, but I'll believe it when i see it.  

https://www.carboncollective.c....

Real return = ((1 + nominal rate) / (1 + inflation rate)) - 1

This is NOT the same as simple math that most people use; especially when there are compounding effects over time that are exacerbated with high portions of your real purchasing power being inflated out of existence with drunken-sailor-like fiscal policy.  

I'm trying to figure out the best way to achieve the look of the enclosed picture using an epoxy or some solution that can be sealed.  The tiles would go in a bathroom and ideally the format would be large enough for it to appear as all one piece.

Who would you recommend for this work?  If we can get it shipped to Texas our contractor can have it installed, but we're struggling to find a solution for it that doesn't cost and arm and a leg.

Ken Harris's meetup at Casa Chapala at noon on Tuesdays for lunch is the best in town IMO.  

The ones with the sponsors who can answer your questions, demonstrate that they're of impeccable character, and who can deliver projects with large margins of safety while exceeding what your risk capital can capture in the public securities markets.  

Doing it well is both an art and a science.  Start small with anyone you invest with and have them prove that your funds are worth investing in larger amounts on later projects.  

A "syndication" has nothing to do with whether or not the LPs are strangers or if they're your best friend since childhood.  The relationship you have will impact the exemptions you can use, but if the investors are passive you're going to desire to have an offering memorandum and to make sure that the operating agreement specifies the arrangement of how things will work.  A securities attorney can help you with this and with the subscription agreement, which is often a joinder for the other agreements.

Hard money is generally used for short-term projects and it often can be less expensive than what you can set up with a syndication.  Note that you can syndicate senior debt in the same way you can syndicate preferred equity, mezzanine capital, or a lot of other arrangements.  The key is whether or not the investors are passive and if The Howey Test and other tests apply.

A lot really depends on your type of project and the duration.  If the duration is a lot longer than a year hard money may not be your best option.  A simple WACC calculation is often useful in determining a path, but the fixed costs of hiring a securities attorney matters as do the points a hard money lender would charge.  

The market will get larger as the access to opportunities becomes easier.  Reg. A+ and other types of offerings are becoming more common now, which will serve 10X the market that traditional Reg. D offerings serve.  A more expansive view of a 3(c)5(C) fund will afford sponsors the opportunity to comply with regulations and have 2000 or more accredited investors, which will decrease the minimums.  Software will allow sponsors to serve more types of offerings with less manual effort and communicate many-to-one with investors, which will have a dramatic impact on the market and increase the size of the TAM.  A higher ceiling on Title III offerings will bring more types of offerings to smaller investors with smaller contributions feasible through licensed Portals.  

To me it is less interesting to observe the current market size and a lot more interesting to ask how big the market can be if the old walls that keep the opportunities private offerings afford are torn down.  Markets respond to new opportunities and are not static.  I am not sure how relevant old data is to a changing market that is still largely responding to the impact of The JOBS Act and subsequent NALs that are still helping to forge the environment.  

There is always a control versus growth tradeoff to investing.  Taking in capital from outside sources generally comes with giving away control in some fashion or having additional stakeholders to answer to.  More capital means you can grow faster, but the price you pay is extra complexity and having others to report to in some fashion or another.  There really is no free lunch.

Startup founders face a similar dilemma when they're growing.  They need capital to grow, but one of the primary reasons to take the risk of starting your own thing is to optimize for autonomy.  So you need to decide if you want to be a "lifestyle business" (often used in the pejorative sense) or if you want to aim for growth.  There isn't a right answer, but recognize that there are tradeoffs unless you're fortunate to have been born into a situation with significant resources to start.

As others have stated BiggerPockets is chalk-full of people in your situation.  Just recognize that your growth is going to be constrained by your time, the time of your employees, or the capital you can bring to bear to fuel growth out of the equity your PFS.