All Forum Posts by: Mack Benson

1,260

That is how many days it took to close on my first investment property.

This 2021 build class A 40-unit apartment is what I've been working toward for over 3 years. What was a dream is now reality!

Of course I couldn't do this alone, my beautiful bride has supported me throughout all of this, knowing I was doing what I was doing to make a better future for us and our kids. In that time we went from 1 to 3 :)

This deal proved the value or partnerships Johnny Nelson, Christa Nelson, Mike Konstantas, and Gwyeth Smith. It also shows how important great mentors are Bill Ham, Gino Barbaro, Jake Stenziano, Marco Barbaro, Darren Light and Hadar Orkibi all helped with education or a kick in the butt when needed.

About the deal:

Johnny and Christa were doing direct to seller marketing and came across this seller who was in the process of constructing the building. When we toured it there was sheetrock on the 3rd floor and only framing on the first. Finishing was months away but we had a vision.

2021 built 40 unit along with the next door quad for a total of 44 units.

Throughout the process people wondered how this fit our business model of a value add property. To us this was clear. We were purchasing the property at a deep discount because it would be vacant when we took over. Our value add is to perform the lease up and stabilize the property. Once complete we will have enough equity to be able to refinance into long term debt

What we've learned - A better question is what we haven't learned. We initially pursued this as a syndication and later pivoted when the seller offered seller financing on a contract for deed. There were also considerations for 1031 that needed to be taken into account. With it being a new and vacant building we knew agency debt was out so we went for local bank financing, then we went for bridge financing and started working with a mortgage broker who was able to leverage multiple financing options. Still seller financing won out in the end. There were construction delays and delays with the city and then delays working through the contract updates with the seller. This pushed our close back almost 5 months. In the end the delays allowed us to acquire the property over 50% occupied rather than at 0% we initially underwrote for.

This deal has taken 210 days since we got the contract signed until closing. There have been countless meetings, calls, texts, and conversations but we finally made it! Hats off to the team, especially Christa and Johnny who have taken on far more than we initially thought.

Time to get it stabilized and on to the next one!

@Corvez L Kendrick congratulations on making this decision. I've written about this topic a few times and my response hasn't changed much over time. Many people on the internet feel you can get all the information for free and putting down $5,000-$25,000 is a waste of money. On principle I agree with their sentiments but feel they a missing a huge part of the equation. Those who say that I wonder where they are in their investment journey, are they successful and how long did it take for them to reach that level of success? Does that match your goals?

That being said, full disclosure, I joined Jake & Gino's Wheel Barrow Profits Academy after interviewing multiple organizations. 

My recommendation is to do your own research on as many mentorship programs as time will allow. Get a feel for who will be doing the training, how the program is structured, and the services they offer. When I compared my options I felt like Jake & Gino was, and still is, the best fit for what I needed. When I joined I was working a full-time W2 and we had just had our second child. I knew that an intensive 1 month course wouldn't fit into my life because of the other responsibilities I had. Jake & Gino allowed me to do the education at my own pace with their online modules. I was able to do it after the kids were in bed, it made for some really late nights but that was what I needed to do.

In the last 2 years since I made the jump my network has absolutely exploded. I am surrounded by people doing exactly what I want to do, not a week goes by where someone in the community isn't closing on a new acquisition. I found my current partner through the community and they found not only active but also passive investments since joining. 

One thing I have been infinitely impressed with is the feeling of belonging since joining the program. There are multiple in-person events every year and weekly training calls where the latest and greatest information is shared. There are also many weekly or bi-weekly student lead calls where we work through things such as underwriting with experts. 

It isn't all about the nuts and bolts of multifamily investing, one of the other areas of focus is on mental and family health, and that has helped me on a personal level more than I can explain in a forum post. 

I highly encourage you to check them out but also check out the other options, see what fits you and what you need the most, but do your research. I'd be happy to discuss further if you have questions.

@Ethan Neumann Jake & Gino are the real deal. I always recommend looking at all options when contemplating joining a mentorship program. You should be interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. There are a ton out there and each will have it's own design. Before I joined I spoke with multiple providers and can't be happier since joining. 

One of the programs I decided against going with said the program would be designed for the individual student, this was very non-specific and not what I was looking for. They didn't have an online portal or any sort of video training. This is one of the things I like most about Wheel Barrow Profits Academy, the online system and the video's you can refer back to when needed. 

Beyond the design of the program a thing to consider is the ongoing support and the size of the network you are joining. I've made some great connections throughout the country and world due to joining J&G. 

I firmly believe doing your due diligence is just as important when joining a mentorship program as it is when looking at apartments. Know what you need and ask questions that will get you the answers toward your goals. They should be interviewing you to ensure you will be a good fit and you should be interviewing them even more. If they aren't a good fit for what you need then maybe it isn't for you.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, shoot me a DM and we can chat.

Come join us for an engaging talk about the Twin Cities Minnesota multifamily market. This is a great opportunity to learn and network with active investors who are focused on apartment investing in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area.

This month we will be discussing ways you can generate deal flow so you can find your first or next multifamily property.

Remember to register in the Zoom link below, this is an online event.

 Good catch, it was running it through meetup.com. Here's the Zoom link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItf-CqrTgpE9PYDW6bmSHrRSm4n1pg1hoG

Come join us for an engaging talk about the Twin Cities Minnesota multifamily market. This is a great opportunity to learn and network with active investors who are focused on apartment investing in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area.

Remember to register in the Zoom link below, this is an online event.

Way to go @Yosef Brosef!

The Twin Cities Multifamily Investor Club is THE premier network focused on investing in multifamily real estate in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Join this incredible community of new and experienced investors seeking the knowledge, tools, and network necessary to take their businesses to the next level.

At our live and virtual meetups, you will learn all about active AND passive investing in multifamily real estate assets across the Twin Cities so that you can take full advantage of this amazing investment vehicle. Learn from the industry's very best, network with fellow investors, and take your game to the next level.

Are you ready to find and close more deals?

Then come join us in-person or virtually.

@Uri Frodis, I'll start with a disclaimer that I am a member of the Jake & Gino community. I joined for a number of reasons; education being a small part but gaining access to a well established network of like-minded, high performers in the multifamily world was far more important to me. 

I would say my situation is unique or special but I'm sure it is more common than I know. Before I joined I was trying to carry my multifamily goal by myself, I thought the only way I could get into multifamily was to have enough money to buy a property on my own so I was trying everything I could think of but ended up just spinning my wheels. For a time I was looking at duplexes but found the only thing I could afford were abandoned properties in or near the worst areas of town, after that defeat I started looking for properties on the MLS to flip but because I needed financing I couldn't compete with cash buyers. When I realized that I pivoted to a direct mail campaign to try and develop my own flip leads or start wholesaling. In the middle of the direct mail campaign our second child was born and it became clear that I wouldn't be able to devote the time needed to work my full-time W-2, build a flipping business (with the goal of saving enough money to buy an apartment), and raise 2 kids.

Everything I had done up to that point was for the single goal of getting into apartments but I realized all I was doing was wasting time. At one point I ran into a member of the Jake and Gino community at a local meetup and learned that he was able to purchase an apartment out of state without using only his money so I inquired about his experience and opened a line of communication. It didn't take long before I knew that joining would be the right decision for me and my situation. I needed to fill some important holes in my arsenal and the investment to join the community would allow me to fill these holes far quicker than I could do on my own. 

I knew I would be able to get the knowledge from a plethora of places. Books, videos, blogs, and podcasts are all viable options but how much time would I need to devote to this and how much conflicting information is out there? I didn't know what I didn't know but I knew that if I was able to join with a group of high-performers who have a proven track record and top systems in place I would be able to replicate what they have done and expedite my business. 

The knowledge part was only one aspect of what I was missing. A far larger hole was my lack of network. I didn't have the necessary vendors and I didn't have the potential partners or investors I knew I would need. With the job, and family at home, I questioned how much time I would have available to build this part of my business and how long it would take me. I realized it would be much quicker if I could get access to a well established network.

That all being said, joining a group is not the magic bullet. Work still needs to be done and it is up to the individual. Success doesn't come on a silver platter but it can be accelerated by being close to the right people. There are cheaper ways to get what you would get by joining the program but what is that cost? How long will it take to build out the systems you need to reach your goals. In business, time is a cost so what is your cost of time? 

Feel free to DM me and I'd be happy to set up a time to chat and I can answer more of your questions if you have them.

"Best" is pretty relative. I've seen successful house hacks everywhere from Coon Rapids to Lakeville, and Cannon Falls, and all points in between. Make sure you know what you are looking for so you can work with your realtor who should be familiar with REI.

If you are looking to house hack a SFR you can do that pretty much anyplace in the cities if you are comfortable sharing your space with a renter. If you want to look for duplexes you need to look where duplexes are located. From what I know the highest concentration of these are in Minneapolis and St. Paul themselves.

From there take a look at the crime rate maps available online to see if it's an area you are comfortable with. Another good thing to check is the median household income for the census tract, this can help gauge the quality of your potential future tenants. 

For wholesaling the highest volume I see is from Minneapolis and St. Paul proper but those cities can also have the lowest prices, the oldest homes, and the homes needing the most repair. Again, "best," is an almost impossible term to quantify except in the eyes of the beholder. My best may be different than your best. Personally I like the suburbs but many others like the cities. Plus with the low inventory in the market I think it would be hard to start in a small area and I would look to more to a county level than a neighborhood level.