All Forum Posts by: Jered Sturm

Thanks for asking @Brian Burke . Great goals, always good to see good people succeeding at such a high level. Congrats on 2016,17 and the exciting coming 18. 

In 2018 I will swallow the tough pill of going back for more on an unmet goal of 2017. taking what we learned, where I fell short and going back to work to reach what we set out for. My goal was to acquire $10M in rental property with a focus on large multifamily. 

What I did wrong:

I was outplayed by the competitive nature of the market. I lacked strong enough relationships and a deep enough track record to break into a new market (ATL) and in a niche, I have not successfully executed (100+ unit apartments) at the same time. The result was 1) Not getting enough quality opportunities in front of myself to execute on. 2) Eliminating any competitive advantage I did have when bidding. 3) I was too focused on getting the big deal done when I should be also scooping up bread and butter deals on the way to the big one. This is the organic growth we have always relied on and we simply lost sight of it when we really wanted to make the leap to the next big thing.

What we did right: 

Although I did not even come close to my goal what we did do was lay a lot of very solid foundation blocks that will allow me to build upon this year. 1) We have built upon the trust and relationship we do have with equity investors. We now have a sizable investor pool ready to participate with us when we are ready to deploy. 2) I personally relocated to (ATL) to build relationships with local owners, managers, and brokers. gaining some competitive advantage  3) We continued to build our track record through efficient operation of our existing portfolio. 4) We remained very disciplined in our underwriting. It is my fault we did not get opportunities good enough to execute on. This could have easily resulted in frustration and fluffing of numbers to just get one done. But we didn't. We stuck to what we know is a good opportunity and owned up the fact that we simply failed to bring one home. 

What I will do: 

I will combine my "rights" with what I have learned and I will go back to work. I will 1) Continue to grow in the sub 100 unit space where we have had our success thus far all while also continuing to seek the larger opportunities. 2) I will use the successful networking event I put together in ATL to add value to those in the industry and begin to grow my network through being an asset to those active in MF rentals and others they are associated with. 3) I will continue to foster the strong relationships I have with Investors who are there for us when we are ready. 4) I will continue to keep my investment underwriting discipline 5) I will continue to hold my character to a higher importance than achieving this or any goal.

@Ari Siesser Welcome to the Site. I am not far away from you (Kennesaw). It sounds like you have a unique competitive advantage. Although my competitive advantage was within the construction industry, capitalizing on it allowed me to get to the same place you're looking to be in buying apartments. 

As mentioned above I host a meetup each month that has 100+ local real estate investors of all experience levels. 

I would be fascinated to talk about your education and how you feel it can be applied to real estate. Let me know if you'd like to sit down for a drink and talk RE. 

Hey, Everyone! Friendly Reminder: The Monthly Northern ATL Real Estate Meetup is Tuesday (11/28) tomorrow night starting at 6:30 p.m. I hope to see you all there!

This month Brandon Comer will be sharing his awesome story on how he quickly has grown and systematized his wholesaling business right here in ATL.

We have had great turnout thus far with most attendance counts being 90-100 people and great success from the group. Through this group, I have seen people buy and sell deals, find financing, partner and grow their business through this non-sales, organic growth focused group. Whether you're just starting or have done thousands of transactions there are like-minded people to meet and grow your business. After attending the group in person there is a private online group where only in-person attendees can join. On this online group, people share useful information, Recommendations and even available deals to purchase.

Keyword Alerts: meet up, Kennesaw, Marrietta, Smyrna, Atlanta, Northwest Atlanta, North Atlanta, ATL, Cobb County Georgia, Paulding County Georgia, Fulton County, Dekalb County, Forsyth County, Cherokee County. Clayton County, Meet up, Networking, Mastermind, ITP, OTP, Buy and Hold, Flipping, Wholesale, Single family, Multifamily, Apartments.

Thanks @Caleb Griffin Yes the meetup address is at the header of the page and the next event is 11/28/17 6:30 pm. I will have BP update the date. 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2017/11/13/greater-cincinnatis-economy-fastest-growing-midwest/840139001/

Jason Bott has been great for us.

@Scott Trench We are active in ATL and Cincinnati. In my opinion, the fundamentals of Atlanta are rock solid. However many people agree with that and are paying handsomely for those fundamentals. I would argue that many are overpaying on the future prospects of those positive fundamentals. This has all but squeezed cash flow out of most areas unless you're willing to really dig for deals which of course is a ton of work. I have not been buying in ATL markets but I have been actively trying. I just can't seem to make sense of anything. 

Cincinnati, on the other hand, does not have the economic fundamentals that ATL has and likely never will but its strong enough to feel stable and the cash flow is still there especially in the smaller (under 60 unit) properties including 1-4 unit buildings. Being from Cincinnati, growing up there, starting our REI business there I know the market very well. The barrier to entry that seems to hold out of state investors back from succeeding in Cincy in these smaller properties is the property management. For some reason I have never been able to understand, there are no good 3rd party management companies in Cincinnati who focus on small properties. As our portfolio grew we vertically integrated and built a management arm to oversee our portfolio this has worked for us.

If you'd like to talk more on either market feel free to reach out. I am happy to share current deals we are buying in Cincy if that would be helpful for your research. 

Best of luck!

Hey Adam, 

I left you VM but wanted to shoot you a message on here as well. Sounds like an interesting deal. My contact is in my profile, reach out when you get a chance I'd like to talk the deal over. 

Thanks 

Jered

@brandon turner we have used valley central bank for most of our acquisitions and cash out refis. Over many years and lots of transactions, we have built a really strong relationship with the senior Vice president of commercial lending. They financed our 42 unit in Cincinnati and it was a really smooth process. To this day we cant find better rate/terms offered at other local banks. I’d be happy to make an introduction if you’d like.

@Amy Park If you're investing specifically for cash flow there are better markets than ATL right now but the economic fundamentals of ATL are so solid that if you are factoring appreciation speculation it does seem to have the ability to do big things when comparing it to the other strong cash flow markets in the midwest which are less likely to benefit from appreciation.

I operate in Both Cincinnati Ohio and Atlanta Georgia And the cash flow is much better in Cincinnati.  

I run a BP meetup in ATL on the last Tuesday of each month. If you're in town sourcing markets and deals you should swing by. It is a great place to meet brokers, wholesalers, contractors, and other professionals active in the market. 

I see you mentioned SFRS in Cobb. You should talk to @Terry Burger, @Julie Kern, @Vincent Crane&@Brandon Comer All who come to the meet up are doing some wholesaling in these areas. @Artem Rost & @Mike O'Connor  are agent's who has helped others in the group by their investment properties.