All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Suszynski

Hello everyone,

I don't know if anyone would have any input on this or not, but I have spent many an hour writing "stories" on Medium, for years now. I have also spent hundreds of hours listening to podcasts, watching youtube videos, reading books and attending meetups, and talking to sellers--all about real estate. 

I started writing real estate investing-related content on Medium to help my Carrot site out. I was curious if anyone knew of any websites that post real estate-related content that may allow for guest posting or similar to gain a few backlinks and appease my content creator side?

Hello everyone, I am reviving this thread to gather a few contacts to whom I can bring value. I performed the BRRRR on one property with the intent of attracting an elderly couple (which I did and they love the place). I am putting my own mother into that house in March because the one-level living will help her a ton.

I want to do this more, I just don't know where to start (?). I have a potential partner who is a long-time friend. He and I have been discussing this since we discovered the idea independently and realized we have a similar goal. 

@Paul Moore

Thank you Paul 🙏

It is a topic I know nothing about to be honest. I have military, engineering and construction experience so I understand job titles associated with those areas but have a hard time grasping what goes on behind the scenes at real estate related companies.

I have been searching openings based on the above advice, just trying to narrow down to stuff I actually qualify for.

Hello everyone!
I am not sure if this is the right forum for this question, it is more personal but focuses directly on CRE.
I have a bachelor's in civil engineering and have worked as an assistant project manager for commercial construction projects already. Right now, I am fixing air planes for the air force because it pays more and I needed the benefits for a medical issue. I will be done with planes full-time on Dec. 31st and go back to my 1 weekend per month schedule.

Ultimately, I want to invest in commercial assets, preferably multifamily or mixed-use. The commercial projects I worked on before were mainly for higher education and healthcare.

I am looking for a career directly related to commercial real estate so that I can work in a field I am interested about AND gain knowledge/experience I'll need down the road to partner on projects. I have been reading through career sites and browsing job postings but most of the suggested positions that populate are for realtors and brokers.

I am not hellbent on being a project manager; what other career paths are there for someone wanting to gain exposure in commercial real estate. Either development, management, acquisition, financing, underwriting, etc. ? I'm sorry if it is a dumb question. I am trying to work in a field more related to my end goal rather than just working to make money.

Originally posted by @Michael Cross:

Jimmy,

My advice on this is to get comfortable with going slow as you grow initially. I continue to work my W-2 and intend to continue for some time. I did a similar approach initially with personal loans and credit cards just to get started in 2018. I have only done 7 properties now so not living off any passive income yet, just sold one of the flips from this year. I also had to sell off some of them to improve my DTI but with COVID it took a year longer than i originally planned. I know from experience that you have more options then you you think. Like me you have done major renovations. You have learned a lot in the process and you can benefit from that education. Consider taking on a partner with a higher credit score so you can keep moving forward. As @Brandon Turner has said on countless podcasts - 50% of a day is better than 100% of no deal. If you keep with your W-2 and keep acquiring more BRRRR properties you will get faster.

Do not get discouraged that your BRRRRs took a while -- you will get faster. My last flip was a major renovation and took 9 months from purchase to sale but could have been rented at 7 months if that was the exit strategy. The first one i ever did took 13 months. For financing, change your focus to something you can action on. There are properties i would love to have a line of credit for that are major projects but too much risk for a bank or hard money lender. I choose to move forward on properties i can finance so i can continue to grow and learn. You will struggle to find banks to do 12k loans but you will find banks to do lines of credit. Start considering other strategies and maybe chart out where you want to be in 1, 3 and 5 years and take steps to set yourself up for the short medium and long term goals. Maybe focus on properties high enough to meet the minimum required loan for your bank or hard money lender. Perhaps you should consider house hacking or refinancing to a 15 year loan to create major equity in just a few years to allow you access to a HELOC. I recently refinanced my personal residence to a 15 year mortgage to give myself the option as i grow. Mathematically it doesn't make sense for cash flow but it is creating a forced savings account that will let have a larger HELOC in 5-10 years for BRRRR investing and eventually a paid off residence to reduce my risk.

Keep calling lenders. I have used 3 different hard money lenders i met through Biggerpockets. I have used 2 local banks - well 1 bank and 1 credit union. Credit unions have a much lower minimum loan amount. I have talked to over 10 local banks. Primarily to the commercial loan side of them. If you are not talking to your commercial banker then you are not allowing them the time to help you. @Ashley Kehr noted on her podcast how she talked to the bankers about what she was trying to do and ask their advice which allowed them to identify a short term loan product to help solve a problem. If you make it a goal to consider 50 financing options among partners, calling banks, and hard money lenders you will likely find a way forward before you get through your 20th on the list. It may not look exactly how you like but it will let you move forward. which sounds like your goal.

Thank you for such a detailed and thoughtful response. I do agree that W2 is important and I am going back to work. It's my life situation that is making that part difficult. I have money available from a private lender, but, in order to keep that money moving I just need ways to get long term funding elsewhere so that my lender is getting their returns. They're more interested in short-term plays to get in and back out.

I have brought the opportunity up to a coupe people for them to split the deal 50/50 if i source, rehab and manage while they finance so that we're able to acquire more sooner and start building equity. The cash flows will come.

Thank you again, I read through that response a couple times and it is very helpful!

I think most of these guys were quite early to the game and perfected their strategies before the market heated up so when it did, they were in the right place and right time.
I am also very curious about this since I have just two completed BRRRR's and getting those done required the stars to align. I used traditional financing for both and completed both in 20 months from purchasing the first one to closing on the 2nd refi this morning, actually.
I used a personal loan, worked two full-time jobs and saved my *** off to get started. Now, I am looking at becoming a full-time rehabber to properly hone that skill--keep the ones that work as BRRRR properties and sell the ones that work better as flips. Highest and best rules applies, of course.
My current dilemma is how can I refi the lower cost properties? I have two lined up that I would love to buy (off-market) but my DTI will prevent me from refinancing and commercial loan products have higher minimum loan amounts-even though the properties will appraise for $100k or more, the loans will be for between 65-70,000 each. There are lower cost areas I know very well--I am looking at a house I can pickup for $13k, put $16-18k into and it be worth $55-60,000. Nobody will touch those low cost properties and if my money is tied up the velocity stops.
Maybe these guys had just enough to get started on higher cost properties that the more flexible lenders work with and built strong relationships to keep it flowing.

I am looking at a potential BRRRR deal that is zoned as a duplex but has 3 units, has a newly vacant lot next door and is a few blocks from my house hack. I see a ton of potential in the place. I saw it before it was listed--I actually sent a letter and another mailer to the property owner last fall. Now that it is listed, has anyone successfully built a seller finance deal with agents involved? It is really the only way this will turn into a "homerun" deal, though I can definitely get it done with my cash and a private lender.
I know the agent's commissions will still be paid based on the sale price ( I would offer to pay them in full along with the down payment). I guess I am looking for example seller finance terms folks have used in the past. I'd like to come to the table with 2 or 3 different options as a part of my offer. (i.e. a larger price with seller financing, a lower price with private money, something in the middle that blends the two). I am going to walk through the property on Wednesday to verify my rehab estimate then get to work.

@Christian Stoecklein sent!

@Eamonn McElroy I definitely wasn’t considering DIY’ing any of this lol just wanted to start the conversation in the right location to figure out who to contact first.

I use a CPA for my current dealings and consulted an attorney when I set everything up but neither is equipped for something like this.

My inlaws have taken interest in our real estate investing and would like to invest for both of our benefits. They're not from a country with a tax treaty with the U.S. So we either take the 30% flat tax or treat the investment(s) as a business. We plan to go the business route since after property taxes and expenses and the current market 30% takes a huge chunk out of the potential ROI.

Whether we purchase a single commercial multifamily unit or a couple of smaller multifamilies and short-term and/or mixed-use, can these all be under a single business entity such as a C-Corp or LLC? Is this even possible?

They will not participate in renovations or any property management (that's where we come in) but, they are looking to make a decent return on their money. Ultimately the business and the assets within it will be left to us down the road, so we will get paid to build and maintain it and have a ton of equity waiting in the (hopefully) distant future.

If you are someone familiar with this area I am very open to paying for a consultation to brainstorm potential structures and setups.