All Forum Posts by: Paul Moore

Hi @Christian Walker! I recommend getting the books that @Taylor L. recommended above. You may also want to check out It's a Whole New Business by Gene Trowbridge and make sure you get the latest edition. Good luck!

Hi @Don Konipol! Lots of great discussion above. I am glad you raised this issue. 

I am in my 3rd decade as a real estate investor and I can tell you that in a bull market so to speak, there is always a big run up in desire for appreciation. It's the same in the stock market. They are highly focused on growth stocks. But after a downturn or crash, the market regains it's common sense and looks for high cashflow properties or stocks. 

We've been in a long run where both cashflow and appreciation has allowed investors in stocks and real estate to prosper. It looks like there is a shift in the making and it's likely that cashflow will be pre-imminent once again. Which means a lot of amateurs who touted appreciation and took huge risks will be flushed out of the market once again. 

Like Warren Buffett said, "the rising tide has lifted all boats but eventually the tide will go out and then we will see who is skinny dipping." It's always the same. Happy investing. 

Hi @Chris Breezy! Congratulations to your dad. He may want to check out Jim Pfeifer's Left Field Investors to get ideas about passive investing. Whether he is accredited or not, there are lots of opportunities out there. He may want to check out some of the crowdfunding sites as well. Good luck!

@Alex Khodnev this is a great question! I am in my 3rd decade as a real estate investor. There is always a gap between seller expectation and buyer reality during these first few months of a downward cycle. I wrote about this in a BP post about a month ago: Buyers and Sellers Are Not on the Same Page and It’s Only Going To Get Worse. That covers one of your questions. 

There is also the issue of how to buy and make sense of any deals at all during a time like this. The quick answer is to choose an asset class with a lot of mom-and-pop sellers. Find opportunities that have significant upside. Lots of value add potential. Lots of intrinsic value that the seller doesn't know or care about. Pay them market price if necessary and then go to work improving the property, raising revenue and significantly raising equity value. This is a great strategy in any real estate market and I think it's especially important now. Good luck and happy investing! 

Hi @Michael Ngatia! That's a great goal! As others said above, you are going to need a large capital base to get started. Even if you don't have that now, you have to build up to it. Right? 

I would start by checking out Whitney Sewell's podcast The Real Estate Syndication Show. I would also get@Brian Burke's excellent BP book The Hands-Off Investor. If you're an accredited investor, there are lots of options and opportunities for you to get started on this path. Good luck and happy investing!

Hi @Gaurav Nandola! I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. While I agree with some of the above answers that real estate is a long game and you need to be in it for years to make it work. I also think that there is a value in pulling the plug if you are on the wrong path. I used to have a podcast cast called How to Lose Money  and we interviewed a lot of people who persevered and did really well. We interviewed other who wished they would've quit when they realized they were on a path that was not going to work. 

While your plan of action could work and does work for many investors, I find that it does not work for most. I've talked to literally a few thousand prospective investors and find that many of them have a similar story to your. I wrote a BiggerPockets blog post about this recently: Landlording Isn’t For Everyone — Become a Passive Real Estate Investor Instead. 

I promise you I don't mean to sound arrogant and I definitely don't have all the answers. I am wrong a lot! But I'll tell you that for the majority of investors who have a great career, a demanding job, a family, a life or even a retirement, actively owning homes is not only NOT passive, but extremely difficult to pull off. Even if you make a nice profit I think you'll find your quality of life is quite challenging. Again, I don't mean to sound arrogant but I recommend that you consider the possibility of passive investing. You'll get tax benefits, likely stable cash flow, appreciation, and after doing the due diligence on a syndicator or fund manager, your only work will be walking to the mailbox to get your monthly check. If you think this is something you are interested in, I recommend getting @Brian Burke's BP book The Hands-Off Investor. 

Good luck and happy investing!

Hi @Stephen Brown! I think we have interacted before on one of the other forums. 

Your father's seemingly strict rules might be a blessing in disguise. Even thoughToledo is not the town I would have chosen, I think there is great reward in being hyper-focused on a specific market, or even sub-market. There is also great potential reward in being focused on asset class and strategy. Though others above said differently, I believe that if you are extremely focused on one thing, and execute that one thing better than anybody, you will win in the end. 

I'm writing a book on Warren Buffett's principles for real estate investors and I have found that he is a master in hyper-focus. Gary Keller, the world's most famous real estate broker, and founder of Keller Williams, says the same thing in his wonderful book The One Thing. If you can't convince your father to go elsewhere, I think you can make the best of what you have by diving very deep, and getting to know every submarket in your area, getting to know the brokers, reaching out to sellers, and staying in your lane. Good luck and happy investing! 

Hi @Nathaniel Winkel! Congratulations on your success so far! 

I think real estate investing is fabulous way for you to increase your tax-advantaged cash flow, appreciation and ultimately your wealth. While there are many ways to pull this off, I would not recommend investing actively. It sounds like you have a family and a demanding career. I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of investors who've tried to do REI on the side and they found that it is far more demanding than expected and the returns were not what they saw on HGTV. There is a very high likelihood that you will burn out, and not be able to enjoy your mountain home and it will put a lot of stress on your family and even hurt your career.

If you agree that passive investing is the way to go, there are a lot of places to learn more. Jim Pfeifer's Left Field Investors is a great community. You can also check out Ian Ippolito's Private Investor Club as part of the The Real Estate Crowdfunding Review. If you want to go down the passive route, I highly recommend @Brian Burke's excellent BP book The Hands-Off Investor. 

I wish you the greatest success in your career and investments! 

Hi @James Li! As a syndicator and fund manager, I find that our investors enjoy getting predictable returns each month or quarter. It's likely that your syndicator has the same experience. 

As was mentioned above by @Todd Dexheimer and others, its likely they are just leveling it out and will do a catch up later. It's also possible that excess returns from certain months are reserved to cover lower months. It's even possible that your syndicator uses some of these excess returns to make repairs and improvements to the park. 

One of the advantages of investing in a syndication or commercial real estate fund is that you don't have to wonder. You can call the syndicator directly and get an answer in minutes. Unlike investing in Wall Street and who knows elsewhere, you should have direct access to the CEO and management team of your syndicator. Good luck and happy investing! 

Hi @Michael Orndoff! It is critical that you build your resume first. It is important that you do a lot of individual deals or you are involved with them as a key team member before trying to be a syndicator. I am not saying that to be snobby, but the fact is it will be much harder to raise capital if you don't have a track record.

Once you have some experience under your belt, and you may already have that, I would recommend you set up a capital raising structure. @Taylor L. and others have made similar comments. To do that, I recommend you create several e-books and hopefully even write at least a short book. With that you can get guest spot on podcasts, and create your own podcast. You can also do webinars, social media and more. This way you will build up a list of potential investors for the time when you have your first deal. 

Whitney Sewell, of The Real Estate Syndication Show did this. He started a daily podcast and created other investor collateral. Then when he had his first investment opportunity, he was able to quickly raise capital from hundreds of accredited investors. I highly recommend you check out his show and follow in his foot steps! Good luck!