All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Bell

Jon, listen to podcast 383. It deals with partnerships.

I am not an avid podcast listener. I know all of these guys and I like all of them well enough. But, you need to understand that the primary purpose for all of these podcasts is to serve as a marketing platform. There is so much information presented that your predictable reaction is that of being overwhelmed and, if you have any money, simply deciding to invest in syndication with these guys, which is the end goal of a marketing podcast. This may very well be the highest and best use for some of their listeners, but is it for you?

Believe me - no one has ever learned real estate investing from a podcast. Some make so much money doing what they do that handing some of it over to good operators is exactly the right thing to do. But, is that you? 

Get out there and do something.

PS: Sam and I recorded a couple of seasons of podcast entitled Multifamily Syndication Unscripted. It's very technical and I am concerned it may confuse you even more, and we only did 2 seasons 2 years ago and stopped. But I'd like to think there is a lot of good content there.

Hey Cornelius,

I'm doing great, I see you're in Atlanta we should connect!

@Jonathan Bell

I was lucky to meet mine in college, and it's been a blessing.

Jon, interestingly, I never thought I'd have a partner. I am a pretty difficult person to get along with. I h=tend to have a lot of edge in my communications. I am not proud of it, but I can't be bothered to fix it either - not normally. My partner, @Sam Grooms, is the one and only partner aside from my wife that I'd ever had. And, I can tell you why very easily - both cause me to want to be the best version of myself that I can be, even if it means swallowing my out-of-control ego and changing certain things about myself. Both bring so much value to my life that it's a no-brainer.

Jon, I wasn't looking for my wife, nor was I looking for Sam. But, I somehow attracted both. I am very different in predisposition and skillset from both, but it works.

So, based on this, I'd tell you - stop looking for a partner. It'll happen when you are ready.

 Listen to this podcast

I found my partner by reaching out to the most successful person I knew in multifamily and volunteering to work for her for one year, no strings attached.  I offered my knowledge, expertise, time and network, for as many hours as she needed, asking for nothing in return.

About a year later, she offered me a GP role in one of her deals.  That went tremendously well, leading to us deciding to partner and work together full time.  We've done about $85 million in projects together since then.

The key is being willing to give with absolutely no expectations in return. Best case, you find a new partner. Worst case, you get a year of experience working with someone you respect.

@Jonathan Bell why do you want a partner?

I think this is really good advice.  Of course, you may not want to do things yourself forever.  But the more you learn and can bring to a partnership, the better the partnership will be.  And the better partners you will attract as well.

I always think it's good to partner with people on a deal-by-deal basis at first, to see if you get along, have aligned values, and like working together.  There is no reason to get married without dating first.

 Jonathan, first off amazing name, and second thank you for another great response. I'm doing what I can to learn what I can. I guess I'm just eager to speed things up but I know greatness takes time.