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

@Ligmon Williams, I would also recommend David Monroe as Charles Seaman has recommended. As a CCIM Instructor, David has credentials that few others have.

Hi, Brad,

Congratulations on starting your RE investing journey!  Depending on where you live and how close you can find investment properties, certainly another condo could work.  

You should also consider a duplex, if the deal makes financial sense.  That's a reasonable step up and gives you a chance to develop some processes to manage your properties.

I'm a big believer if you want to scale up, that you've got to develop processes that help you efficiently manage properties.  And if you document those processes, as you build your portfolio, you can get part time help up to speed more quickly so you can grow and work on finding good investment properties.

Next, investing as an LP in multifamily syndications can grow your savings, but it won't give you commercial real estate investing experience if you want to become an active investor.  

For more active learning, look for a nearby meetup and attend a conference or two yearly hosted by the names we all see in the multifamily syndication space*.  That way you'll find people who are active, get to know people who invest in your area and who you develop a relationship with.  Volunteer to be part of a team to learn how they operate.  And read books.  There are lots of resources available.

Good luck!

* Some examples: Bigger Pockets, Jake and Gino, Dan Handford, Joe Fairless, Michael Blank, Dave Lindahl, The Real Estate Guys.  Just do a Google search and you'll find plenty of networking opportunities.

Hello @Marc S.,

I agree with Tomas.  Do you have long term goals?  How much time do you want to spend on RE investing?

Many people who want to invest in commercial real estate already have a job from which they are earning a good living and want to diversify from strictly stocks, bonds and mutual funds in a company 401k or IRA.

Being active in real estate is very time consuming to do right and keep up with market conditions, property analysis, acquisition and management, financing alternatives, etc.  The most successful spend so much time investing, it's like a second job.  If that's your passion, then go for it.

Passively investing in a syndication is an excellent way to take advantage of professional real estate investors while still getting a solid return and continuing to focus on a job.  The key is to find a sponsor with integrity and transparency.  If you take this route, interview investors and people who know the syndicators you are analyzing to find out more about the person/company.  And have a personal conversation to be sure you are comfortable with the syndicator.

Good luck!

@Kurt Baltutat, you can also check out David Monroe at www.DavidMonroeCCIM.com.

@Kyle Curtin, there's a recently published  book about developing strong relationships with brokers that I highly recommend.  Beau Beery, a multifamily broker in north and central Florida, wrote "Multifamily Investors Who Dominate" just for you!  It is an excellent book which you can find online or at Beau's very helpful website (www.BeauBeery.com - and check his resources tab).

Following Beau's book will make us all better investors.

@Noelle B., @Todd Rasmussen suggests excellent advice.  You might also find a CPA or asset protection attorney (who MUST be commercial real estate investors themselves) to help you with your planning.

First thought is do you want to be active or passive investors on your multifamily properties?  As you get into larger properties, you'll normally need to find partners to help in the deal.  If you are considering passive investing, syndications allow you to invest your funds into properties you like without having to do much work.  The biggest issue with syndications is to be sure the GP team (operators/sponsors) are people you trust.

Listen to some podcasts, too, that address topics you have questions about.

You are off to a great start!  Keep up the progress.  This is a great way to build wealth!

@Liza Leif, many investors are taught to prospect by contacting property owners who have owned their properties for a long time, figuring they are more likely to sell (at or near retirement or the kids don't want the headaches of property ownership).  So these "prospectors" look on the county property appraisers records for the owner's information.  You might try transferring ownership into entities in which your name or contact information is not listed.  This is for asset protection and anonymity.  

But you need an attorney's advice who really knows the best actions to take in your situation.  Contact me and I can give you the name and info of a firm I use for this.  I am not an attorney and I am not affiliated with this firm except as a client.

Or change your phone number.

@Joshua McIntire, Arn offers some good advice.  In addition to the local market variances, all good investors need to understand the metrics that reflect a property's performance.  One of the best resources for that is Frank Gallinelli's book What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow...And 36 Other Key Finanacial Measures.  Frank is Founder and President of RealData.

@Jad Haddad, there are a lot of paths to investing in real estate.  Do you want to be an active or passive investor, residential or commercial, and numerous other possibilities.  It depends on the time you have available, the money you have, your contacts in the business, your skills, etc.  Reading and listening to podcasts will defeinitely help you decide which path you want to start out on.

@Adam Lacey has some good suggestions.  I'd also suggest The Hands-Off Investor by Brian Burke, Investing in Income Properties by Ken Rosen, Multi-Family Millions by Dave Lindahl, and The Perfect Investment by Paul Moore.  Podcasts include The Real Estate Syndication Show by Whitney Sewell, The Jake & Gino Show, Multifamily Investor Nation by Dan Handford, and Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever by Joe Fairless.

In addition to books and podcasts, I'd recommend attending a couple of events to meet investors and learn from networking and presentations.  Don't hesitate to ask any questions.  Most of us are very glad to help new investors get on the right track.  Do Google searches for events to attend or post to BP and ask for opinions about the events.

Good luck!

@Alex Scott  Brian Burke has written an excellent book titled The Hands-Off Investor for passive investors.  It has very good information for analyzing deals and sposnors.  The other BP responders here have some good advice, too.  

The most important criteria for successful LP investors is investing with trustworthy, experienced sponsors who have your best interests in mind.  To find them, I recommend you attend a few of the many events that are put on by some of the bigger names in the space.  That way, you can meet sponsors personally and get a better sense of your compatibility with them.  

Some of the bigger names who have events which you can find by searching for their names online include Joe Fairless, Dan Handford, Jake and Gino, Dave Lindahl, Michael Blank, Rod Khleif, David Monroe, and others.