All Forum Posts by: Michael Balcom

@Michael Balcom

Thank you for your advice. I’m glad you brought up some good points. I am unfamiliar with what a whole seller is so I’m going to have to continue my research and learn all the moving parts

What would you guys say to someone who is young, credit is low, and not that much in his account but wants to get into real estate? Whose dream is to own buildings with more than 6 units in it.

You can find them by searching properties on Zillow and Realtor.com

You can reach out while your overseas if you are back in the states soon. Otherwise its best to wait until you're getting ready to relocate.

My Journey from Residential to Commercial Real Estate

How I Got Started in Residential

I got started in residential real estate after I was released on waivers from the Oakland Raiders. I suffered an injury that I knew will take time for me to heal so to fill time I decided to begin my real estate journey. I started by getting licensed and hanging my license with a brokerage, but due to background issues my license was on hold for 4 months. My pivot from this situation was to start wholesaling real estate, wholesaling taught me the terminology, marketing, tenacity, stamina, and sales skills needed to make it in this industry. After wholesaling for a while I switched to buying fixing and flipping which taught me the money raising aspect. I used my wholesale business to bring me the Fix and flip opportunity while simultaneously nurturing my money raising skills.

The Turn

I was having success in the single family world but there was a huge issue with what I was doing. I was not creating wealth. My whole reason for entering real estate was to go into commercial real estate, own income producing properties that kick off cash flow each month and create a lifestyle of pure abundance for my lineage. To create that kind of wealth in SFR will require a ton of energy, marketing, and TRANSACTIONS! I did this particular deal in Taylor Texas that I worked for several months. I was wholesaling this risky deal with horrible foundation issues and had a tough time selling it to a buyer as well as convincing my lenders to lend on the deal. I knew I had to perform so I ended up having to do the deal for free, not making JACK SQUAT! My time is definitely worth more than what I came out of that deal with so I decided to start looking into commercials and really see what is so scary about it? I did research and stumbled across Tim Bratz, and Michael Blank and I realized that I have self limiting beliefs that are holding me back. After in depth studying, outreach to others in the industry, and calculation on how I will make this slight pivot, I did like Uncle G says and made the decision.

My Defensive Line Coach for the New York Jets Karl Dunbar always used to tell me in film study, “Son, Make a decision and live with it.” Anything I do, I do just that.

First Step

The first step I took to take AFTER making the decision was to actually figure out and understand who I am actually bringing value to. In any business there is a value proposition that creates a transaction to actually take place. I studied different entry levels, different asset classes, in order to find a niche in the marketplace. Niche equals rich, “Tim Bratz always said that. The goal was to get real targeted so I can have a buttoned up sharp direct pitch that I can set deep hooks with whenever I'm raising money. My goal was to have conviction just oozing out of my body so investors can feel how focused I am on my Niche asset class.

Second Step

Study! Study! Study! Studying the language of CRE is part of the journey and process. I am now in the league of professionals. To be taken seriously I will have to be able to compete. Studying market trends, underwriting, demographics, job growth, and economics are vital to provide value for the investors. I will take the skills of marketing and sales I learned in single family and transfer them over to CRE. This article is my first of many that I hope inspires, educates, and motivates others to make a decision.

Thank you.

Thanks @Michael Balcom, yea I've wanted to buy a storage facility ever since I've gotten into the game in 2011, but they are just hard to find at reasonable prices and you further limit yourself if you want to stay local to where you live. I'll find one eventually though or build one if I have to. The portable business is definitely a good one and I think you would do extremely well with it in Florida. As you read in my article I have some connections in Orlando - man would I love to own my business in Orlando. To be perfectly honest I feel my business would be much bigger at this point in time if I didn't live in such a rural area. I'm happy where I'm at and I'm where I want to be, but I know my business would have significantly more demand in an area like Fort Myers. 

The only thing you would want to consider further in Florida is the heat. I don't have to worry about it so much up here and I can rent units parked out in the snow all winter long and not run into issues, but I wonder how the Florida heat in the summer would affect the contents of a portable unit sitting in the sun all day. The big boys in my business have climate controlled warehouses that they park these inside of, but that's certainly not necessary just getting started. Thanks for reading!