All Forum Posts by: Dylan Marma

@John Stoeber Good question - I'd say that you want to hone in on each market you enter until you reach a certain economies of scale in each target market. I believe this is sound advice whether you own in house PM company or not. Even with a 3rd party manager it is still your job to manage the manager and you should expect to be out on the properties at least once a quarter

Townhomes are great. Usually draw much higher rents than garden style apts. We've found they often attract a stronger resident/people will treat them with care & stay longer as it feels like they have their own home. 

I guess the con is there is typically more space throughout so turn costs will be higher. Also, if you are buying individual units you want to see if there is an HOA & learn how that will impact your investment.

I personally like idea - The biggest challenge with MF prop management is aligning the interest with investors. Most PM's are incentivized for turnover by move in fee's and by spending more money on your property to charge service fees. 

I'm a big believer in having property management in house & our team manages all of our own assets - this gives us the ability to control expenses, negotiate all contracts that come through the door, keep a solid pulse on your investments, and more. If you have the time I would consider hiring a company the first year or two, learning their systems then start managing on your own.

The question is how do you structure this in a way that is a true win-win. I agree with Brian's points. The ideal way to do this is to have them invest with you and receive LP share's and maybe a small GP bonus. On your first deal this will be difficult - in order to achieve this you may consider partnering with an experienced sponsor who is on board with this idea or has their own property management company. Or just bite the bullet on the first deal or two and build the relationship until you win the PM's confidence to invest alongside you.

I definitely remember being in a similar spot as I started getting into RE/entrepreneurship in school. What I've learned is there's no reason you can't make progress on your Real Estate investing career while in college. Most people have more free time in college than almost any time in life- but most people choose to spend all of their free time drinking. You can either intern for investors during the summer or spend the time launching your own business with all of the free time. You can build a RE biz starting with limited time each day. Taking finance classes will give you better understanding of how the market operates & impacts real estate. What is the opportunity cost of being in school- If you are to leave school without a business already built where are you going to go? Get a full time job somewhere while your build your business? That will likely be more time intensive. If you have the cash position to go full time in business without a full time job maybe you give it a go but I know that is not the case for most people. Grade inflation & price inflation are real things and I believe there is a need for reform in the education system - that being said learning finance & getting the piece of paper still hold some value. There's no right or wrong answer- I would just keep in mind the business won't magically blow up the week you drop out - you'll probably need to find a job & ask yourself which path will you learn the most and have the most time to dedicate to your RE biz.

I would echo the other comments here & recommend searching for a partner. Ideally, find a partner with experience so they verify the deal is solid & can help you manage the deal properly. Finding a good deal is the hardest part getting started so if you go to local networking groups and share it with experienced investor finding a partner should not be difficult. I would stay open to splitting the equity as tenants in common - your first deal should be about experiencing a successful deal not having 100% ownership. Not to mention you can share responsibilities during due diligence/closing and asset takeover which should make the process much smoother for you. 

Well the first question is what aspect of Real Estate do you want to get involved in??

There are so many facets to real estate it's important to do your research and make a decision on which path is best for you. It will vary based on your goals & your resources. Time, money, location, & network.

Since this is on the multifamily forum I will assume you're talking about being an investor in apartment buildings. How much time do you have to dedicate? Do you have the capital & networth rqmts to buy a building on your own? Do you live in a good market to find deals in? Or maybe you have a lot of high networth connections?  The more info we have on where you're starting from the better advice this community will be able to offer. 

Once you have decided which path to take, I recommend "Seek to serve" or "Pay to play", if you are committed to accelerating your growth. By this I mean either find a way to add value to someone in the space (not asking them what you can do for them but providing actual value by presenting a way you can help, even if that means going to work for free) OR find a reputable investor that you can invest in mentorship from - the key is the really do your research here and not throw money at the first program that jumps in front of you- make sure they are doing it at a high level and have the results you want. Maybe investing alongside sponsors who provide value to their passive investors is a good way to gain experience & learn until you do your own deal. Again, which of these directions you take depends on how much time & money you have. 

You will learn lots here on BiggerPockets, podcasts, & from other free resources but that will only take you so far. I recommend finding a mentor who can teach you to see through their lens in ways that books/blogs won't be able to. After a certain point you should be prepared to go without mentors and most learning will come through experience, but if you want to cut down the learning curve and accelerate your path to your goals find someone who has been there before and learn as much as possible.