All Forum Posts by: Mark Neiger

How do you determine if a building is a certain class? Is it purely subjective or are there some kind of guidelines?

@Vee K. Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out IRR. Still not sure how to have a relationship with a broker if I've never bought anything from them. They won't show me good deals and I can't buy what I can't see. Real catch 22!

Thanks all for the replies! I'm looking in Multi not single family so that takes some of your responses out. @Dan McDermott I agree with you on the tech savvy, major employers and university areas. That definitely brings a few areas into focus. @Ali Boone that's awesome to find a fellow pilot on here! I'm a Captain for a regional airline flying jets. It pays the bills but I'm looking to build my RE portfolio so as to not have to work for the man any more. While cooler than working a desk, having an airline job takes all the fun out of flying; that's why I'm on here. I really miss low and slow for fun! Your insights into the market stuff is spot on. Obviously strength of market, appreciation etc. is important. The problem I'm seeing is that some markets show high rent, jobs, appreciation etc. but there are so many people throwing way too much money at these places that they still aren't smart investments. I need to find the up and coming markets that aren't already being overwhelmed.

I have the unfair advantage of being able to travel anywhere any time I want to. My primary occupation is an airline pilot so I get to fly free anywhere and anytime. Having said that, I'm trying to break into the MFR market. I live in Florida and have started looking at property in this state but really want to be able to do research and find some of the most lucrative markets in the country. I have the ability to go and physically look at a property and meet with team members in any market. What would be the best way to research markets and how can I put that information together to determine where I might want to concentrate my efforts?

So I've been doing my homework and learning as much as possible about MF investing. I've recently started using a program to analyze properties and have begun to practice on a few places I've found on Loopnet. Some of the issues I'm having so far...

1. It seems that common knowledge is that anything on Loopnet is a bad deal and that's why it's there. I've been told it's a good place however to fish for brokers to send you the good deals. Any other ideas on finding stuff?

2. How to find prevailing cap rates for specific areas. Call PM's? I asked a few brokers and they just said make an offer and we'll see what happens. I read about using CBRE website to find free market research but have been unable to find any of that info on their site. Anyone know where that is?

3. I'm working on securing investors for capital but heard someone with a large MFRE holding company say that he would rather pay 10% to a hard money lender than have an investor own 30% of his business. Is that total nonsense? Is hard money a good idea to at least get into an asset until you can reposition it? Will a bank even look at you if you are leveraged that way or do they not care where the down payment comes from. And obviously the deal would have to be stellar to even consider personally taking on 100% financing.

4. Finally, since my market (FL) is so competitive I'm concerned that by my conservative underwriting guidelines I'll never win a bid because so many entities are out there throwing money around and paying full asking price. I've heard of a strategy of overpaying for the property to be competetive if there is owner financing available. I'm looking at a 32 unit asking $1M. By my numbers it looks more like an $850-900,000 deal. However the broker says there is a lot of interest in the property. The owners will consider financing with a large down payment. This property has been on Loopnet for a while. Any thoughts?

I have capital of my own but want to add to it. Therefore I do have skin in the game. My initial investors on my first aquisition are a family member and a friend who I've already approached and who are interested. I just need to figure out the structure I'll use. Once I have one under my belt I can seek others. Thanks @Michael Tempel for the references, I'll definately check them out. 

I'm still in the research stage of moving into multi from my current SFR strategy. Little equity in that currently. My parents own 100 acres of farmland. They are in their 70's and the property and house will be willed to us kids eventually. Would it be wise or even possible to pull equity now to use as down payment on 5+ multi unit type buildings. Obviously this would currently be a note under my fathers name. If anyone has any experience with such things I would love to hear about it.

I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of how an investor might be paid. I hear lots of talk on here and in the podcasts about getting investors X% return on their money but what does that really mean? Is it the percentage for one year or is it over the course of many when the property is sold or refinanced? Do they get a monthly payout of net income? I want to start looking for investors but this is the part of apartment investing I understand the least. Does anyone have any good resources or could someone give some actual examples of what this might look like? Say I have someone who is willing to put up $50,000. How long will their capital be tied up, when will they get some or all of the return? What percentage of ownership would they have vs. me?

I'm looking for a realtor or broker in Orlando to get me listings of small multi-family units (2-4) for sale. My area of concentration is the downtown area. Anyone out there fit the description or can refer me to someone who does?

I have about $50,000 to put down so nothing very large for that kind of money. Probably be stuck in the 2-4 unit range.