All Forum Posts by: Christopher Burge

For Chattanooga REI meet ups, check Facebook. A few of them are the Multifamily & More Chattanooga Chapter, Real Estate Investors Local Meetup - Chattanooga (not REIA), and several others. The two I listed have monthly meet ups.

@Victor Olvera, Michael Blanks Syndicated Deal Analyzer (SDA) can be found here: https://themichaelblank.com/sy...

As the name suggests, its focus is on syndications but it can be used to get other information. I do caution you to do you home work and learn the underwriting behind the scenes and edit/alter it into a way that work for you. Most groups I know that had used the SDA have greatly altered it to align and meet their business needs and strategy.

There are several good BP Real Estate Podcast episodes with Andrew Cushman that talk about underwriting as well that I really liked. You have to be cautious in some cases when underwriting larger multifamily because it can be easy to manipulate things to "look" good on paper (ex. IRR) but in reality not be a great deal for the investors (or at least not as good as advertised).

@Tonya Weathers If you do want to do a JV, then they will also need to participate in the deal in an active manor so as to not get in trouble with the SEC. You may want to find out what things they are wanting to do in the deal and create a split based on that value that those tasks bring. Otherwise, it might just be good to talk with your friends & family about what returns work for them while keeping them realistic in their expectations.

@Tonya Weathers While I do not have really a recommendation for the splits, I wonder if a JV is what you really want to do if you are going to be doing most of the work. I think a JV makes sense over syndicating when you want others to participate in the work or you are looking for longer hold times than syndication is typically done at. Also the big reasons for a JV is you want to maintain more control over the deal and not have to deal with investors. I bring this up to say, have you looked into trying to find a private money lender instead of partners? It looks like you are already willing to give up some of the returns and this way you can stay in control of the asset. Just wanted to throw that out there. Good luck!

I would think a lot has to do with your end goals. How you analyze small multifamily including the loan products and what goes into the underwriting is very different than large multifamily which is different than what goes into commercial loans. You may want to pick one and pursue it for a while and once you either find yourself really good at it or find yourself not interested in that investment vehicle, then go to the next one. If you are looking for possible employment opportunities, then many of the larger syndicators have been higher investment analyst lately. You could also work for a lending institution. If you are looking to grow on your own, then I would recommend finding a mentor or joining a program for someone to help guide you along your journey. Good Luck!

@Amanda Kroepfl A lot depends on what your are talking about when you mean multifamily. If you are looking at smaller commercial units like 10-20 units, then the BP rental calculator "may" work assuming you are funding the deal yourself. When you get into larger deals, especially syndicated deals, that calculator will not work. It was more meant for SFH and small MF deals. As mentioned by @Josh Edwards, I found the Michael Blanks SDA a good start for larger deals to learn the basics. Most groups make their own tools for underwriting though because how you come up with your business plan is unique to your strategy. If you are looking for something to learn from as you start off, I think the SDA is a good but I would read books like Multifamily Millionaire Vol. 2 by Brian Murray, The Definitive Guide to Underwriting Multifamily Acquisitions by Robert Beardsley and How To Analyze Big Apartment Buildings & Make Them Feel Small by John Stoeber (there are more, those are just a few) to further develop your underwriting skills. Learning and understand what goes on in the background of underwriting writing is very important as mentioned by @Account Closed After underwriting a few times, you will likely learn that you need a flexible solution that fits your needs rather than something off the self. If you are not a numbers person, it would be good to partner with someone that has that skill set. Best of luck on your RE journey!

Hello Matthew! I am a newer investor as well. I am currently a limited partner on a larger (200+ unit) and also looking to get into the GP side. I have been looking at the smaller MF deals as well to gain some experience. As you mentioned though, the fees and other functions that normally go into a syndicated deal would not make a deal of 10-25 units normally worth it. For those types of deals, you would likely want to do a JV structure.

There are some great books on underwriting that I read to get me started. Here are a couple. 

1) Multifamily Millionaire Vol. 2 

2) The Definitive Guide to Underwriting Multifamily Acquisitions: Develop the skills to confidently analyze and invest in multifamily real estate

3) How To Analyze Big Apartment Buildings And Make Them Feel Small

I recommend you learning and creating your own spreadsheet over time but if you want something to start with I recommend starting with Michael Blanks Syndicated Deal Analyzer: https://themichaelblank.com/sd...

Not sure if you are looking at being on the LP or GP side but I would recommend particularly the Multifamily Millionaire Vol. II from BP. It is a truly great book on the topic that is fairly comprehensive. There is a lot to learn that you can only learn by getting into it and taking action but I have spoken with others and the information in that book is what others are paying a lot of money to mentors to learn.

@Devanand Ramachandran @Ramon Jenkins I am currently in the multifamily bootcamp. It is geared toward large multifamily deals. Mostly focused on syndication but we have mentioned joint ventures. Content wise, I think you could learn probably more from reading the Multifamily Millionaire Vol. II from Biggerpockets. There is a lot to learn and they only have so much time so they have to keep it pretty high level. There have been a few gold nuggets in there though. The value I am seeing is we spend a good bit of time to Q&As. You could likely get that from these forums as well but the live aspect is nice. Also, you get "homework" or tasks to do that help guide you through the process. For example, for market selection, they give you some things to look for (ex. medium income, average rents, etc.) and then challenge you to select some markets and do the work then come back with questions. I am new as well though. I have done my first multifamily deal as a limited partner on a 200 unit and now looking to work on the general partner side.