All Forum Posts by: Paul Moore

Congratulations for taking action, @Chris Schoonhoven!  Keep going.  

@Ian N.  There are so very many risks b/w the time you buy a piece of ground, make plans, get permits, build a building, then lease it up.  Too many to chronicle here.  

One obvious one is time.  In the time it takes to get from today to the end, the economy could totally shift.  Another is legislation. You may not get permits.  Or almost as bad, other developments in the area may not happen (like the WalMart that did NOT go in across from the Hyatt hotel we were building).  And there are cost overruns (like the general contractor who went belly up in the middle of our hotel project.  He kept over a million dollars we paid him to pay his subs. We ended up paying the subs anyway, so we paid twice.) 

Bottom line for me... I'm only doing Class B, value-add, generally stabilized multifamily projects. Much lower risk.  Potential returns aren't as high, but they are solid.  And that is what I (and my investors) are looking for. 

@Ian N..  My business partner and I had invested in oil and gas in North Dakota during the last oil boom, in 2010, and could never find housing when we went there.  So we pulled together the funds, bought land, and built a nice multifamily facility in Watford City, ND very quickly.  

It paid off. We were renting fully furnished 300 to 400 square foot units for $3,900 per month, and stayed essentially full.  The oil companies didn't want their employees living in their trucks in sub zero ND weather.  

We sold the asset at the height of the market, and launched into the multifamily world.  After doing a lot of research, which eventually led me to writing a book, I realized how very risky this development play was. I would never do that again, in fact.  I am now focused on mostly stabilized Class B, Value-Add opportunities in large and growing metros.  No more development (especially in boom and bust towns) in my future.  

There are 5 major barriers to entry to get into this business...

1. Capital

2. Experience 

3. Brokers (they sell to their friends who they know can close). 

4. Deals (as has been said, its hard to find deals that make sense right now). 

5. Lenders (you have to have #1, 2 & 4 to get them onboard).   

Hi @Dakarai Towns   My company is interested in large MultiFamily. 75+ units.  Please go to my profile and connect if you're interested.  

I recommend going to friends and family and offering them 12% annually.  1% per month.   Then hopefully you can refi them out with the bank or from your own cash flow sooner than later.  

I love the Berges book.  The only caveat is the timeframes he uses.  Somewhat aggressive turn times b/w deals.  Otherwise priceless.  

Hi @Samantha Soto, @Zack V. Bethea and @Jordan Butz.  I agree.  We should connect on BP then do a conference call on Huntsville, etc.  I'm very interested.  

No, I don't know.  I would check on Meetup.com though.  

Welcome Khaled!  I'm looking for multifamily opportunities in Raleigh Durham as well.  In the 90 to 200-unit range.