All Forum Posts by: Eleena de Lisser

@Zackarias Aitchison FYI -- Webinar on 6/18/19: "Common Mistakes Made by First-Time Syndicators" by Gene Trowbridge and Jonathan Nieh

@Efraim L. Welcome to the BP forum! There's a Meetup on Long Island for folks interested in investing in apartments out-of-state. May not be convenient for you to attend if you live in Manhattan, but it looks like they do events on Sundays. Good luck!

@Zackarias Aitchison One way to learn is to be an involved equity partner or credit partner on an experienced syndicator's deal. That will give you an up-close-and-personal look and give you insight into how to (and perhaps how not to) do deals. I'm an equity partner on four different apartment complexes and have learned a lot from talking with and observing the lead investor (i.e. syndicator) about raising capital and investor relations by being in those deals.

If you are fortunate enough to find a mentor, it would be wise to find someone with integrity, who has multiple SUCCESSFUL deals under their belt and believes in consistent and clear communication with their investors. 

If you want formalized training, your best bet is to take a course and then network like crazy to get in the orbit of other successful syndicators so that you can see how they operate.

Here are some resources:

Value Hound Academy with Craig Haskell

Gene Trowbridge

@Jimmy O'Connor Yes, NW Philly has tons of opportunity and plenty of value. If you've never been to this neck of the woods, you need to come by and drive around. Germantown and Mt. Airy have a mix of housing stock including extremely large Victorian houses, medium-sized twin homes and small row homes. Proximity to Rt. 1, Lincoln Drive, and several Septa regional rail stations make both neighborhoods an easy commute to Center City. There's also a lot of greenery and trees surrounding many parts of both neighborhoods with the Wissahickon and Awbury Arboretum nearby. 

Developer Ken Weinstein of PhillyOfficeRetail has been leading the way and making a ton of investment in the area. He's also paying it forward through his Jumpstart Germantown program by offering educational workshops for newbie real estate investors. (I'm an alum of the Jumpstart program and have witnessed first hand what Ken and his team have been doing in Germantown/Mt. Airy for several years, so I'm a fan of his.) 

Walt King, another investor who graduated from Ken's Jumpstart program about two years ago, acquired an abandoned hardware store location that had sat vacant in Germantown for decades and recently opened it up as the newest location of . Ken provided the financing for that redevelopment project. 

Ken's latest project is at Wayne Junction. It's a $20 million project that will consist of new multifamily, office, coworking space, a craft brewery, and restaurants. Other developers who are also in the NW Philly area are  and . 

Other info and resources:

Germantown's Wikipedia page

Germantown United CDC

Mt. Airy's  Wikipedia page

Hi @Jonathan Gomez! Welcome to the world of real estate investing! Since you're in Philly, you should really check out DIG, if you haven't already. It's one of the largest REIAs (real estate investment associations) in the U.S., and has tons of educational and networking events. I highly recommend their rehab tour where you get to hear directly from other investors and contractors how much it costs to rehab different properties. There's one coming up on June 15. Good luck!

A true Class A property in a war zone? Hmm, not sure I'd agree with that. 

Definitions will vary, but when it comes to apartments, some general rules of thumb:

Property Types

Class A: Built within the last decade OR older property that has been very nicely renovated/well-maintained and is located in popular neighborhood

• Lots of amenities (doorman, security system, washer/dryer inside the apartment units, stainless steel kitchen appliances, on-site gym, doggy park, package room, reserved parking, etc.) 
• Convenient/great location near central/downtown business districts, shopping, restaurants, transportation hubs, etc.
• Tenants are typically white collar professionals who can afford to buy a home but choose not to be homeowners

Class B: Property is generally somewhere between 15  to 30 years old, but could be older.

• Some amenities, but not as upscale as a Class A property. (Black kitchen appliances.)
• Located in middle-class to upper-middle class areas.
• Property appeals to the masses (entry-level professionals, college students, seniors, etc.)

Class C: Generally more than 30 years old

• Little to no amenities (for example: no washer/dryer hook-ups inside the units, window air conditioning units/no central AC, white kitchen appliances)
• Located in stable middle-class, working class, or lower income neighborhoods
• Blue collar and entry-level professionals, college students, seniors, some renters who receive housing subsidy (*Sec. 8)
• Potential for stronger cash flow than Class A
• Higher maintenance needs than Class A and B

Class D: Generally more than 30 years old

• No amenities
• Kitchens and bathrooms look very old ("Harvest gold" kitchen appliances)
• Located in areas that may have high crime, high unemployment
• Great cash flow if purchased at a low price, but there is little chance of appreciation

@Tushar Shah No, I didn't, and I don't have any insight to share. Sorry.

• Join us at our next meetup where Stacey Mosley, Founder & CEO of FixList, will be our guest speaker.

  FixList is an online service that lets users search the City of Philadelphia's open data to narrow down over 600,000 real estate locations according to 26 different criteria and find redevelopment potential across Philadelphia neighborhoods.

  Founded by Stacey in 2015, FixList has made it its mission to help reduce blight by empowering individuals, businesses, and neighborhood associations with invaluable property information. Combining a passion for real estate and the power of data analysis, FixList is a catalyst for informed and actionable decision-making.

  “FixList is a map-based interface, similar to Zillow, where you can search through properties by address, owner, neighborhoods, ZIP codes and many other criteria,” Stacey says.

  During this meeting, Stacey will give us a live presentation of FixList and show us how to use data to help identify off-market real estate investment opportunities, compare their potential, and start moving them through your pipeline. We’ll discuss aspects of different acquisition strategies and how FixList can help you source properties in Philadelphia for your next project.

  Admission is $15, CASH ONLY. (Pay at the restaurant.)

  We have a private dining room reserved with a limited number of seats. Please RSVP if you definitely will attend. Thank you!

  Event date: MON. FEB. 27 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

  Location: London Grill, 2301 Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19130

Thanks, Anthony! Sorry you can't attend. Looking forward to seeing Philly-area investors at this Meetup tomorrow night!

This is a two-part workshop that will meet on Saturday, Jan. 21 and Saturday, Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The registration fee covers both sessions.

If you are brand new to apartment investing, this is the workshop for you. Learn why apartment investing can be a better option for you than buying single family houses and you don't have to be a millionaire to get started.

If you are curious about investing in multifamily properties, but unsure about where to start, this two-session workshop will introduce you to the basics. You'll leave with some foundational knowledge and get info about resources to further your investing education. There will be no sales pitch of products or   services, just pure knowledge exchange.

Here's what we'll cover:

There will be a very limited number of seats available since we're meeting in a bank's conference room, so please register in advance. Thank you!