All Forum Posts by: Dennis P.

These quasi seminar companies are doing things the "old way" and investing like what you mention is much simpler today by visiting crowdfunding sites.  We and other platforms like ours have funds and syndicated offerings on our site for investing in syndicates.  

Care must be taken to invest in projects from people that know what they're doing.  This is harder to do online because you can't interact with the promoter as much.  So a lot depends on how you intend to do diligence and how advanced you are in your investing career.  It seems like you're just getting started so reading some books and material from people on either BiggerPockets or other places online should give you a good sense for who knows what they're talking about.  

I could literally write a whole book in this post about what to look for, but some of the bullet points given my limited time are:

-Track Record - Does the syndicator/operator/issuer understand the deal type and the market that they're raising funds for?  How have their investments performed historically?  What experience do they have in this market for this specific type of project?

-Risk - Does what you're being offered make sense given the risk of the project and where you are in the waterfall?  This is a much harder question for a newbie to answer.  What other risks are there?  What things have to go right for the promoter to achieve the projected returns and how likely are they to transpire?

-Compliance - Are the documents organized correctly and is the promoter using the right exemptions?  

-Interaction / Follow-up Post Investment - What systems and processes does the promoter have set up to communicate investment performance post investment with the investor?

Hope this helps some.  Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.  

@Dennis P.

I work for DaveLindahl. We like to see a cash on cash of 12%+, debt coverage ratio of 1.6%+ and a CAP of 8%+

I have a case study where Dave took a 100 unit property from Loopnet and showed how he would evaluate it and what he would pay for it. If you are interested shoot me an EMAIL I can send it to you.

Good luck

Paul

 If you can't attend seminars (Brad Sumrok has one in Dallas this weekend, and Lifestyles has one every month), then the next best thing is to read. There are many books out there, such as by Dave Lindahl and Steve Berges. I haven't read them myself. For free information, look up Peter Harris of Commercial Property Advisors. His site has free videos and a free book download, which is a start, but probably not enough information to begin investing. There are other sites where I've been able to find free information, such as Lance Edwards. Also, you could post questions on Bigger Pockets. This site is full of people who don't think you should pay for any training, which indicates people are willing to help you for free.

Agree w/ the other responses.     Apt. investing isn't a great route to do w/o socializing w/ fellow investors first, though Diversified Metroplex Investors may be an Plan C option if you can't/won't.

Risk and reward are correlated, and you're not going to find double digit returns on an insurable investment.   Main principals of MF, put succinctly, are to educate yourself thoroughly first, perform your own due diligence on every deal, and to hire competent professionals to guide you if you don't understand the legal agreements.   It becomes a passive investment only after you've made it, but you should do a fair amount of work making connections and analyzing deals on the front end.

There are two groups in Texas you've probably heard of: Lifestyles Unlimited and Brad Sumrok. Check out both. See if they make sense to you.

I agree with Nick. Definitely check out those two groups. You'll meet people who are making those offers, and how to evaluate them. You have to get to know the person yourself and be educated enough that you can evaluate the deal independently (instead of just trusting them). 

I am not aware of a way to insure your investment. In fact, the documents that you must sign have pages and pages of disclaimers warning you that you could lose all your money, in order to cover their *** if things go sour. 

You say you can't attend the meetups. You really do need to meet the people in person. If the person putting the deal together is above-board, they only want investors with whom they have an existing relationship, who is sophisticated enough to understand the risks, and to put it bluntly, can afford to lose the money they put up in the unlikely event that the investment fails.

I'm biased Ryan, I think you should always have a mentor. Someone that's been there, done that. However, there's no harm in multi-tasking either.

If you wanted to start from the inside out as a PM and gain experience from that perspective, that's a good idea too. Just remember, that when you do buy your first property you should not be the PM!!!! It needs to cash flow properly to pay someone else to run it for you.

Lastly, you could do all 3-4 things you have listed to maximize your learning curve.

For me personally, I started as an investor just buying property not really knowing what was the right way to do it. Then, I received my RE license to learn more. Then, I found a mentor and got an education. Wish I had started the other way around. It would have save me time and money in the long run.

Good luck to you Ryan!!!

I am just learning, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

My plan is to Move to Tampa and buy an apartment building with a 203k loan, and live in one of the apartments, while renting out/renovating the others. I think BP calls it "House Hacking."  a few years later, I plan to refinance and roll the equity into another apartment building using a 1031 tax deferral. 

Rinse, Repeat.

I am very new to the game, so like I said, take what I say with a grain...