All Forum Posts by: Joshua Michael Hauman

Hi @Account Closed

I would recommend viewing my response to this post: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Going through brokers has been the best way for me as well as finding online listings. Some more information below:

Use a Commercial Real Estate Broker: Commercial real estate brokers are the gatekeepers to the great deals you seek and are key players to have on your side. They have access to a wide range of properties that are not always available to the public. They can help you find properties that meet your criteria and negotiate on your behalf.

Use Online Listings: Use online real estate listing websites, such as individual brokerage sites, LoopNet, CoStar, or CREXI, to search for commercial properties that are currently on the market. You can filter the results by property type, location, size, and other criteria to find properties that meet your needs and then reach out to brokers from there!

I've also attended live and virtual events to network and got in contact with some commercial real estate wholesalers. I know some people that do direct mail campaigns as well but I've never done direct mail so I can’t advise on that.

Hope that helps!

Hey @Max Bates!

The tax of ignorance is paid down by time and experience. What has made me an asset in the eyes of my mentors and previous employers are my initiative, commitment, skill development and coachability. Its really hard to argue that someone isn't worth the time an energy if they are doing the following:

Take initiative: Don't wait for your mentor to give you tasks or assignments. Instead, be proactive and look for ways to contribute. You can do this by volunteering for projects or suggesting new ideas. Listen to what they complain about or where the problems exist then do research or bring those struggles to the BP community for feedback and alternate solutions.

Show commitment: Demonstrate your dedication to your mentor and the work you are doing together. Show up on time, meet deadlines, and be reliable. This will show your mentor that they can depend on you. Loyalty is hard to come by and holds its weight with high value individuals. 

Be receptive to feedback: Your mentor is there to guide you and help you grow, so be open to feedback and willing to learn from your mistakes. Take their suggestions seriously and apply them to your work. Its served me well to do a task I'm unsure about to the best of my ability and then ask my mentor or my boss what they thought of my performance on a scale of 1 to 10 and what can I do differently in the future to make it a 10. 

Develop your skills: Identify areas where you could improve your skills and seek out opportunities to do so. This could involve taking classes, attending workshops or conferences, or practicing on your own. Even though I had several bosses and multiple mentors I still spent tens of thousands of dollars getting coaching for areas I felt weren't up to par as well as acquiring specific skills that would make me more valuable if I had them. 

Hey @Ed Winczowski!

I agree with @Eliott Elias. Podio is really easy to use and flexible. I would use podio if I was just starting out. There is an insane automation that was developed by the team at DealFlyte. They are mainly on the disposition side so they built this app within podio that pulls in a crazy amount of Instant Decision Maker buyers for their wholesale operation. I'm not sure if that automation would make sense in your case but either way podio as a crm is a beginner friendly, cost effective route to go.

I would also highly recommend GoHighLevel once you get to the point where you need something more robust. I used it to run my marketing agency and it is undeniably a fantastic product.

Best of luck!

The most systematic way I've found to do so is to get in touch with commercial wholesalers and get broker listings. I paid my way into a group that has our set of criteria for acquisitions and they work to find a deal that fits our buy box. Works well for both, they bring us great deals and we bring them 6 figure assignment fees. Once you get into the 40 unit + range I've found it to be more competitive as the number of mom and pops is less and the operators are more sophisticated. 

Of course pulling lists, public records, networking with other investors and all the online resources could be a way. I've just found it to be a time intensive process and am happy to pay someone to find deals for me! 

When shopping Syndications/Funds to invest into it starts with the goals you have. What do you want your investment dollars to do for you. Where could you place them to shield and amplify your wealth while also sleeping soundly at night. Good questions to ask yourself are:

What is the track record of the syndicator? 

Research the syndicator's experience and past performance in managing similar real estate projects.

What is the investment structure? 

Review the legal documents associated with the syndication to understand the terms of the investment, including the fees, distribution structure, and splits.

What is the exit strategy? 

Understand the plan for exiting the investment, including the potential timeline and potential returns.

What are the risks involved? 

Evaluate the potential risks associated with the project, including market conditions, operational risks, and financial risks.

How is the project being managed? 

Assess the management plan for the project, including the experience of the management team, the scope of their responsibilities, and their performance expectations.

What return profile am I looking for? Understand the potential returns on investment, including both the ongoing income and potential appreciation of the property.

There are good and bad deals out there no matter what part of the market cycle you're in. If you find a proven sponsor, you believe in the deal itself and its a good fit in terms of the goals you have I wouldn't see the market cycle as a factor that would hold me back from investing if the plan was sound and all the other boxes checked. Better to buy real estate and wait than to wait and buy real estate ;) 

Hey @Chris Jackson!

I'm based here in Cleveland working with a player in town that has over 2000 units in the area. 

Do you have a set of acquisition criteria you're using? 
Assuming the 6-10 unit range is because you want to take it down yourself rather than with LPs or partners?

Happy to talk to my contacts and see what inventory they have after I understand more so I can give them a more custom and descriptive response!

Hey @Billy Daniel!

I've joined several programs and all of them have been worth the investment but there is one that stands out. 

The one that got be exceptionally good results was actually not a big name mentorship I found online. I met a syndicator and developer in my market at a local REIA of all things! He has 2000+ units and a 200M development pipeline and is always in the news in my city.

My Experience

I followed him for months and spoke a few times in person at events. At one of these events another investor saw me talking to him and introduced himself as one of his students who had just done his first multifamily deal. I didn't know he had a mentorship but I wanted in. I inquired and eventually joined the  intimate group. 

What I liked about his was it was focused more on the actions to take rather than just education. He layed out a step by step process and held me accountable through multiple weekly calls to make sure I was executing on what I needed to. The priority was on imperfect action and getting better overtime. 

He is huge on giving his connections to his students and emphasizing that this business is a team sport. This was huge for me to build my team and fill the gaps that I felt like I couldn't do alone. I liked the small group feel as it allowed for more personalized attention for each student as well. 

Long story short, I went from 7 residential rentals to acquiring 4 commercial assets for my fund within the past 14 months since joining his group.

Conclusion/Advice
1) It really depends on the goals you have and identifying what you feel like is holding you back from your dream outcome. A problem well articulated is half solved. Once you've identified specifically what your problem is you can then go about seeking the solution that fits best. 

2) I like the mentors who are still active in the business and make their money from real estate and not from coaching. 

3) Find out who actually does the types of deals you want to do some day in your market and get in touch with them! (Look up the biggest apartments or developments and see who sponsored/is sponsoring the project.)

With the right people around you and consistent execution results are inevitable.

Best of luck!

Hey @Juan Aguirre!

I can relate to your position, just 3 years ago I did my first duplex use hack and after that I was flat broke. I lived super inexpensively and focused on increasing my income through starting up a Social Media Marketing Agency to make an extra 3-5k per month on top of my rental and W2.

Of course there are many routes to take if you want to just only stay in real estate. (Wholesaling/fix and flip/creative finance) I didn't take those routes so I cant speak to them. 

I can only give advice on the route I took which was to increase my income and reduce my expenses as much as possible. This allowed me to buy another 2 residential rental properties which I was able to achieve in 11 months. I quickly realized that this cycle would take me forever to generate the cashflow I desired so I began looking in to bigger deals and think how I could make those happen. I felt stuck.

That's when I found a well known syndicator and developer in my market and instead of putting a down payment on another rental I paid my way into his commercial real estate mentorship.

He gave me direction and we set up a plan to execute on and finally I had clarity. With his guidance and my persistence, I acquired 4 commercial assets for my fund within the past 13 months since joining his group. Everyone is different and there's no one set path, the path is made by walking. In my case following in the footsteps of those that paved the way before me.

The best investment I've ever made was in myself.

Hey @Scott Miranda!

Always happy to hear when investors are interested in Cleveland as its my hometown and HQ for my operation. 

I've seen a lot of success in this market and as a native I see first hand the growth of certain submarkets in the city. Right now there is a 15 year tax abatement and Opportunity Zone across multiple zip codes within Cleveland. This tax savings has encouraged capital to flood into new developments to bring up surrounding areas! In this market you're trading aggressive appreciation for higher cashflow in general.

I use this map which I find to be an accurate representation of the grades in the Cleveland market:

Neighborhood Grades  

If you have more specific questions or looking for contacts in the market here for anything please don't hesitate to reach out!

Absolutely, to reverse engineer the process this is what I would do. 

Let's see what variables we are working with:

Purchase price: 6,000,000
Repairs: 600,000
Down Payment (Lets assume 65% Leverage)
DD and Closing (Lets assume 4%)

It works out like this:

(Purchase Price * Leverage) + Repairs + (Purchase price * DD and Closing Costs)

(6,000,000 * 35%) + 600,000 + (6,000,000 * 4%)

Looking at a 3 million dollar raise to estimate conservatively. Likely you can get by with 70% leverage as well but I would strongly advise getting no less than 4 million in soft commits. Always better to be oversubscribed. 

If we know we must raise at least 3 million and likely get soft commits closer to 4 this it just becomes millionaire math. Less LP's in the deal less operational drag but to elude to your prompt, there are many ways to slice a pie ;)