All Forum Posts by: Joshua Michael Hauman

Hey @Jesus Gil!

It depends on what you want! Identifying the best places to invest depends on your overall financial goals and objectives, risk tolerance, preferences and so much more. Accounting for local real estate market conditions, population growth, job market, rental demand, and the overall economic outlook of the area a few locations to consider are:

Boise, Idaho

Boise is experiencing a boom in real estate demand due to its growing population and job growth, particularly in the technology and healthcare sectors. The city is attracting young professionals and families due to its outdoor recreation opportunities, mild climate, and affordable cost of living.

Phoenix, Arizona
Nestled in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix, Arizona, is a real estate market that is heating up in more ways than one. With a bustling population, a thriving job market, and a cost of living that's affordable, this city is attracting a diverse range of industries, from cutting-edge technology to healthcare and finance. The region's unique beauty is also a draw for homebuyers, with rugged mountains and stunning desert landscapes surrounding the city.

Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida, is an increasingly popular real estate market, and for good reason. The city offers a vibrant mix of sunshine, culture, and opportunity, making it a desirable location for homebuyers and investors alike. Boasting a strong job market, particularly in the finance and healthcare industries, Tampa is a hub of economic activity. The city's revitalized downtown area is also attracting young professionals with its thriving entertainment scene and diverse culinary offerings. Tampa's real estate market is poised for continued growth, with many new developments on the horizon.

Austin, Texas

With a booming economy, job growth, and population influx, Austin has a high demand for rental properties. The city's robust technology and healthcare industries offer a stable job market, and the city's affordability compared to other major tech hubs make it a desirable location for young professionals.

Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

Raleigh-Durham has a robust job market, anchored by the Research Triangle Park, which is home to several major pharmaceutical, biotech, and tech companies. The region's affordable cost of living and temperate climate make it an attractive location for young professionals and families.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City's strong job market, high quality of life, and affordable real estate market make it an attractive destination for real estate investors seeking lucrative opportunities. The city boasts diverse industries, cultural attractions, and proximity to nature, which drive up demand for housing and rental rates.
Denver, Colorado

Denver has a strong job market, fueled by its thriving technology, healthcare, and aerospace industries. The city's affordable cost of living, mild climate, and access to outdoor recreation make it a desirable location for young professionals and families.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte has a strong and diversified economy, anchored by the banking and financial services industries. The city's population growth and affordable cost of living make it an attractive location for both renters and investors.

I'm not an expert in these markets, just providing a very generalized synopsis of what I've heard seen and researched. Also its vital to note that if you intend to use an FHA you must live in the property for one year. My advice would be to finance it a different way if you're looking out of state or use the FHA and do it in your backyard!

Hey @Cole Doyon,

I'm local to the area and agree that the numbers you used for rents are not unreasonable. 

Some assumptions I would test you on would be vacancy and maintenance. 

Every investor is different but just some call outs I would mention:

1. Vacancy: Akron is a secondary market and can be great for cashflow its getting the management right which is the difficult part. Keeping the property occupied is likely going to be the biggest hurdle you will face. In most cases you get what you pay for C- to D class properties/areas attract C- to D class tenants. If you have a strong PM company and a plan to keep it managed that will help mitigate your downside but like Mike Tyson once said, everyone has a plan until they have to file two evictions in one month. Or something like that :)

2. Maintenance: How I look at conversions is this: The property was built specifically for one type of housing and then later changed into another. I know, captain obvious. Its all a case by case basis. Issues with a converted property will depend on several factors, including the quality of the conversion work, the age and condition of the property before the conversion, and the maintenance and management of the property after the conversion. Converting an older property may mean that it has outdated or inadequate insulation, heating, or ventilation systems that could lead to maintenance issues and higher utility bills. It may also mean that the work was properly permitted, up to standard and have newer electrical and plumbing systems, modern insulation, and updated heating and ventilation systems, which could be advantageous in terms of energy efficiency and maintenance. Just a consideration.

I have two pieces of advice my mentor gave me:

1) Balance the return with peace of mind.

2) When purchasing an asset you must understand you won't own it forever. The question then becomes, how do I unload this? Who would wat to buy this in the future?


Also, coming from a guy who underwrites over $1B in assets each year I've found its wise to approach the analysis process with the mindset of "Guilty until proven innocent". What I mean by this is you underwrite the deal with empirical skepticism and actively seek out every angle possible to kill the deal. In doing so you protect yourself from the downside as best you can. 

I can't help with agents in Akron but if you're looking for recommendations on contractors, lenders, property management or insurance feel free to reach out and I'd be glad to pass along some contact info for the folks that support the residential side of my business. 

Also, what I've done that has worked well for me is this method step by step.

Step 1:

Take a sheet of paper or an excel file:

Write down every name that you can think of that has the financial capacity to be an investor in a deal. Friends, family, colleagues, friends of friends, people you met at an event, church, old connections, people in mastermind groups you're a part of, folks on BP, any organizations you're affiliated with etc..

Step 2:

Rank order these individuals on how much capital you think they have the propensity to deploy.

Step 3:

Start with the bottom of the list and work your way to the top asking each person if they were to invest in a real estate deal what they would be looking for and what their expectations would be. Some prefer multifamily, some hotels, some development opportunities. If it was the right opportunity, how much would they consider investing? How long would they want before their capital was returned? What kind of return profile would make sense for them?

Step 4:

Aggregate your feedback based on the soft commits you get from these potential LPs and narrow down your acquisition criteria and make it a weekly practice to send these deals out to your network that has expressed interest. Ask them for feedback to better dial in your strategy. Over the course of time people will respect your commitment and you will start building authority and credibility.

When that next great deal crosses your plate you've already had so many at bats that you're locked, loaded and ready to swing.  

Best of luck sir.

Hey @John Mack,

There is a guide one of my mentors put together that is 50 pages on how he went from unknown with zero credibility and zero experience to raising 10's of millions of dollars for his syndications. PM me if you want a copy and I'll send you the link!

Hey @Adriana Diaz!

I wrote a response to this post a couple days ago on digital opportunities in real estate. Thought it would be worth sharing and interested to hear if any of those pique your interest. May be something you could run for your GC firm as well depending on their needs!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Hey @Elvis Nasi!

I like the Ink Business Unlimited zero interest for 12 months credit cards from chase. No annual fees and they are running a $900 cash back offer right now! I used these for a few flips last year and paid them off from the profits of the flips a couple months ago. Worked brilliantly. Link is here: 
https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink

I haven't used these but thought I would share another link with 0% intro APR cards:

https://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/zero-interest/

I have a pro xtra commercial revolving charge card from Home Depot and Lowes for Pros card as well. They are fine but nothing to write home about. I've found what chase has to offer to be far superior when it comes to the terms and also rewards.

Cheers!

Hey @Jason Malabute, interesting concept!

My advice is begin with the end in mind. What are you looking to achieve and who do you feel called to serve? What skills or talents do you have and what are you passionate about?

That being said here are a few ideas I have:

1) Real Estate Photography and Videography: If you have a good eye for detail and some photography skills, you can offer your services to property management companies to take pictures and create virtual tours of their properties. If not physically taking the pictures you could have them take them and you perform the edits. A cool idea would be to get into virtual staging if you're skills are more on interior design.

2) Content Creation: If you have past experience in multifamily real estate, you can start a blog or YouTube channel sharing your insights and expertise. You can monetize your content through advertising or sponsorships. If you don't have experience, offer to manage or edit content for a well established player in the space.

3) Social media marketing agency (SMMA): I used to run a digital marketing agency so this is my personal favorite. My company ran paid ads to get leads for contractors and eventually we took on some syndicators as well to get more eyeballs, build their brands and ultimately, raise more capital. Its a bit hard to prove the ROI with something like this and there are a lot of rules to follow to adhere to SEC guidelines but I learned a lot about the do's and don'ts of capital raising and it was a lucrative business for me.

4) Education: Mentorships, books, courses and webinars all work great as well. I have yet to try this business model but have joined/purchased several products from people who I trusted in the multifamily space and it has helped accelerate my learning curve tremendously. If you have a unique way of providing value and getting people results in the online education space this is also a high margin business that can be done anywhere in the world.

Hey @James Gee!

I shot you a private message. I have a guide to brokers in pdf form. Its about 20 pages of condensed information on exactly how to contact, present yourself, and speak confidently to brokers. Cost is the time and attention you place into digesting it, happy to share.

Hey @Zeb B.@Zeb B.@Zeb B.

Are you selling just the land and structure or are you selling the operation as a business with the real estate included?

Either way, unquestionably your best bet is to find a commercial real estate broker or business broker who specializes in gas stations. Not only will they be able to help your friend value the property but also will likely know buyers who will want the deal.

Good questions to also consider are 

Tenant quality: Meaning is this rented out to national tenant like a BP/Shell or a Mom and Pop operator. Same would go for the restaurant. Higher quality tenant lower cap rate.

Guarantee: Is the guarantee on the lease corporate backed, franchise or personal. Stronger guarantee lower cap rate.

Lease term: How long is remaining on the lease? 

Lease Type: What are the landlord responsibilities? Taxes, Insurance, Maintenance?   

I could go on and on but I would find a broker that transacts the type of deal you're looking at selling. A way of doing this is to search crexi for deals of similar nature and reach out to the listing broker. Never a bad idea to leverage the BP community for connections and support ;)