All Forum Posts by: Christopher Lombardi

Thanks Chad,  it took a number of years.  We purchased the property in 2013 and had the first house completed and rented a year later.  We then went for the subdivision which was completed in 2015 but didnt end up starting on the second home until last year because we were busy with other projects.  

You should look in every unit.  If the landlord can't get you into all of them this week, at the very least you should walk each unit during due diligence.  6 units should be very quick and easy. 

One of the better single family deals we've done...  in Radnor, PA.  This is what real estate dreams are made of. 

We purchased a very old dilapidated home in Radnor for $170,000 which had a large side yard.  The home was renovated for $250,000 and once complete, rented for $5,200 initially, but with new tenants now paying $5,800 per month (appraised at $1,100,000).  But thats not all...  we subdivided the side yard and built a new house for $400,000 and just sold it last week for $1,300,000.  So from a $170,000 investment we created two homes worth over $2,400,000.   Our private lenders received all of their funds back with 7% per year on top and we put the rest into another single family subdivision in the same town to do it again.   Pics below:

I give tenants the 5 day grace period before late fees start getting charged. Then if it’s still not paid on 10th they get the 3- day notice. Based on the way your tenant is responding to you, it’s time to begin the eviction process.

You can’t. Find yourself a duplex and work your way up. Your not going to go from nothing to the big leagues. Take one step at a time.

I would recommend speeding it out among dividend paying stocks that do well in a downturn. I personally have been putting money into mobile home reits, energy companies and alcohol companies. UMH is a mobile home reit paying 6% dividend. Double what the muni bonds are paying and it does well even if the economy doesn’t.

I think I remember a podcasts where they discussed a site called yellowletters.com. I’ve never used it but they probably do what you’re looking for.

Todd, you don’t find an owner financed deal, you create it. Before you make the offer, ask the seller if he would be willing to accept a little less up front and monthly payments for the next... 3,5,10 or so years. Or make the offer first and if they counter, you can tell them you can come up in price if they hold some of the financing... there are a lot of ways to do it, but you will very rarely see someone advertising it. Most sellers don’t even think of it until you ask the question. Best of luck Chris

Thanks for the replies.   I personally love hearing from the big guys.  Ken McElroy is a favorite, but the bigger they are, the more interesting I find the shows to be.  I would really love to hear from guys like Rick Caruso, Sam Zell, Jorge Perez and Richard LeFrak, although I'm sure those are not easy interviews to get.  Thanks for all your great work @Mindy Jensen.  You help make my commute enjoyable. 

Take a look at the property itself and the market and see if it’s something you are interested in. Then take an even closer look into the syndicator and their last deals. If they made good returns for investors in the past they probably know what they are doing.