All Forum Posts by: Tom Cyr

Can anyone here provide feedback on their experiences investing with Robert Cannon / Sapient Funding / Sapient Property Group in the DFW area?   His CV shows considerable experience and his projects are attractive.  He won't share any investor references and, surprisingly, there are no hits doing a search here. so I'm reaching out with my own post.  

@Noelle Stecher Have you crunched the numbers on STR at Crystal Beach? I know the property taxes add a huge burden to the expense column but asking prices should be coming down so if you are an agent in that market already, you should have a fast track to any motivated sellers listing their beach houses.

Fix and flip or rental?  I would be careful in a small town.  The sale on the back end could take months or years.   Renting pool is very small and a long way from a large enough city to warrant communting.

According to the chart halfway down the sponsored review at:

https://moneywithkatie.com/blo...

Under the heading Choosing Investments with Fundrise, this fictitious reviewer invests $5000 in August and by November, her account is up 10%.  But the chart is disclosing that 94% of the increase was due to appreciation.  Only 6% of the account value growth was from dividends. Maybe that is true but basing future results on this inflating bubble market is suicidal.  The RE markets have been parabolic since COVID. Not only will the growth part not continue, but it will fall drastically.  The paltry dividend won't offset the collapsing asset values.  

Look up Mr. Sturnialo on Pacer to get a listing of at least some of his legal troubles.

@Jonathan Twombly, I believe you, sir, are what the industry calls Smart Money.  

If the (Real Estate?) market is crashing, why haven't prices moved?  This thread generated a lot of replies, but is it titled mostly for click bait?  Really.  The economy is crashing, but the real estate market is a lagging market due to the illiquid nature of the assets.  

We don't even have comparables yet that reflect the new economy. Many of the responders on here are saying that their markets still appear firm. April stimulus checks funded May rent and mortgages, whether the renters and borrowers chose to pay or not. June hasn't arrived yet so we don't have any information whether renters and borrowers are going to pay their bills. It's premature to claim that performing rental properties are affected, although the crushing of REIT's would suggest that there is a problem, at least with their business model income streams.

Look at the homebuilder stocks to see a leading indicator of what to expect.  As of mid-May, DR Horton stock sank about 60% before it bounced up to about 25% down from the recent high.  If that is the top of the bounce and we go back to the lows, Mr. Market clearly thinks that 20% unemployment is going to mean more than just a mild recession.  Mass evictions and foreclosures mean that real estate assets will be on sale.  If we have cash and credit to buy, no need to liquidate performing properties.  If we are leveraged and need the rental income to make interest payments to the bank, it may be better to sell sooner, rather than later.  "Sell when you can, not when you have to."

Start your personal private vault today while the RE market is overvalued so that you can use it when prices pull back. I started mine 4 yrs ago and have already used the LOC against it for a buying opportunity.

When I got into investing in the 90's, the rule was 65%. The market has gone through a couple of cycles since then and I've seen how newbies get killed not keeping their eye on the macro-economic environment. The thing about momentum markets is that they work great until they don't. It's a gambler's game around here in REI. The advice to buy and hold could be a decent proposal if you are married to REI and are happy with 8% total return.

My approach is like Warren Buffet's - stay away from the crowds when it comes to investing.   This is a time when smart money is selling real estate, if they can find an attractive asset class to invest in with the cash.   It's a lot harder with big money than small money to make that adjustment.  

Be patient.  A lot of "gurus" are peddling courses now that they can't buy at attractive prices.  It's a pattern that repeats itself every cycle.  Keep your eyes open, study the larger economy, and look at undervalued asset classes.  If you forget the primary rules of investing (buy low/sell high & don't lose money) you are doomed to soon be parted with your capital.