All Forum Posts by: E. C. "Stony" Stonebraker

@Suresh Yala, between leverage up to 75-80%, interest only payments, and value add upgrades which force appreciation, the deals are there.  Simplistic analyses don't tell the story.  Underwrite deals realistically to see how they turn out.  It certainly is tougher to find deals than a few years ago, but they are there.  Some good tips and advice here from our BP community.

@Eric Grunfeld, there are a number of commercial real estate databases of varying quality with information on properties across the nation.  Each may or may not have property owners.  A newer database which is more reasonably priced is RockVal.  Check them out to see if they are a viable option for you.

@Kevin Lechuga, it depends on what your goals are and how much time you want to spend on real estate.  If you are willing to spend a lot of spare time managing a property, you can get a duplex and house hack.  All the prior responses have covered the smaller, do it yourself options.

If you have a good job with a good income and don't want to spend all your spare time in real estate, you might look to invest passively in a syndication or with a partner who needs more capital and some part-time help.  That's a good way to learn more about the business.

Good luck!

@James Robert, search for all the local organizations that hold meetups for investors, realtors, REIAs, etc.  Ask fellow realtors if they know of any local meetups.  If you don't find anyone locally, you can always travel to a multifamily investors' conference.  There are one or two large ones (200+ attendees) almost every month and smaller ones even more frequently.  These are put on by people like Jake & Gino, Michael Blank, Joe Fairless, Dave Lindahl, Omar Khan, and others.

If you find conferences by googling them, you'll likely get a mixed bag of conferences and need to ask BP online about each one.  Good luck!

 Gerardo, almost all conferences have a coaching program of one type or another.  You'll find a mix of new and experienced investors at most all of them.  I would say Lindahl's events have more experienced investors since he has been around a lot longer than J&G and Omar.  There are plenty of other conferences earlier in the year, too.  Just keep following BP, podcasts, blogs, etc. and attend conferences and you'll find a range of opportunities.  Good luck!

@Gerardo Waisbaum, It depends on what you are looking to get out of an event.  Jake & Gino is excellent.  It has lots of people looking for partners on deals.  I'll be there.  Omar Khan has a new event in Las Vegas from Oct 12-14.   There's also Dave Lindahl's Ultimate Partnering event Oct 21-23 in Phoenix, AZ.

@Jorge Abreu, an excellent article about the pros and cons of active vs passive investing!

I want to emphasize another passive advantage of #8 - Team.  Not only do passive investors gain from the experience and expertise of the deal sponsor team, but it saves the investor from the startup years of learning, mistakes, growth and expenses which sponsor teams have put behind them.  Many people who want to be active investors don't realize how much time is involved in that startup phase.

Another excellent contribution by you, Jorge, to the BP community!  See you soon at another event.

@Derek Neal, you should contact them directly and ask. I have no idea who they are, but it is best to have them update you and explain why they did not get funding completed as anticipated.  Be sure to get third party references for anyone you are considering investing with.  Good luck

@Scott Esmail, I understand you can do the cost seg study anytime, but you need to do it before filing a tax return to get the benefits, of course.  I am not a CPA so confirm this information with a CPA.

@Darrin Yon, you are right!  The first deal is really tough.  You have to keep the faith that even if the next deal doesn't close, there will be others after it.  Be sure to build relationships with fellow investors and syndicators and treat everyone well.  This is a team sport and people have to know, like and trust you and vice versa.  Networking is critical.  Also offer to help others in their deals, even if you don't get compensated, as long as you learn.

I built a team of GPs who had been LPs and had raised small amounts for other syndicators' deals, then we found a deal ourselves and had others as GPs in our deals in return for helping with asset management, loan co-signing, capital raising, etc.  Adjust your target deals to the capabilities of your team.  And if your team needs expertise of a certain type, keep networking, attending meetups, conferences, etc. to find a partner to fill the gap.

Good luck!