All Forum Posts by: Raphael Collazo

As additional information, here are his three books. The "Due Diligence Handbook For Commercial Real Estate" has been #1 on Amazon in the Commercial Real Estate category for many years. It should be a great meeting!

All the best,

Hey @David Heath!

Yes, this meeting will be virtual. 

Brian's a great guy and is SUPER knowledgable.

It should be a phenomenal call!

All the best,

The Louisville Real Estate Investor Meet Up group is for aspiring, beginning and full-time real estate investors interested in networking with other like-minded individuals. During our monthly meetings, we share ideas, learn from one another and host speakers who talk about topics related to real estate investment.

In this meeting, Brian Hennessey, a top L.A. commercial broker and the author of the best-selling book "The Due Diligence Handbook For Commercial Real Estate", will share his story about how he got started in the real estate business.

Along with that, he will explain how to properly perform due diligence on a potential investment property and share various helpful strategies you can use to add value to your real estate portfolio. After his presentation, we will open up the floor for a Q&A session.

Hey @Tanner McRae!

Welcome to the BP community! This forum is filled with driven and inspiring people who are always willing to help. I'm a big-fan of multi-family investing and I'm constantly reading books on how to maximize the value I get out of these investments. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. "Multi-Family Millions: How Anyone Can Reposition Apartments for Big Profits" by David Lindhal
2. "Crushing it in Apartments And Commercial Real Estate: How a Small Investor Can Make It Big" by Brian Murphy
3. "The Book On Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner
4. "Best Ever Apartment Syndication Book" by Joe Fairless and Theo Hicks
5. "What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow... And 36 Other Key Financial Measures" by Frank Gallinelli
6. "Aggressive Tax Avoidance for Real Estate Investors: How to Make Sure You Aren't Paying One More Cent in Taxes Than The Law Requires" by John T. Reed

These books will help you get a solid understanding of sound investment principles you can use to build your real estate portfolio. Also, have you attended any local real estate investor meet-up groups to establish relationships with local investors? If not, I highly encourage you to do so. One of the most popular groups, R.E.I.A (Real Estate Investor Association) has chapters in most major US cities. I'm confident that they have a large and highly engaged chapter in the bay area. Our Kentucky chapter has over 700 members, many of whom are extremely active in the market and have a wealth of knowledge they're willing to share. Along with that, check out "meetup.com" to see if there are any other real estate meetups in your area.

As a side note, My friend @Luke Neubauer and I host a real estate investor meetup in Louisville. As part of the meeting, we network with other like-minded investors and host speakers who talk about topics related to real estate investment. This month, Mark Helm, one of Louisville's top commercial brokers and author of "Creating Wealth Through Self-Storage", will share his story of how he got started investing in self-storage and how he's navigated the obstacles presented by the current pandemic. We usually host it at a local restaurant but due to the health concerns presented by the coronavirus, we have decided to host in via Zoom. Here's the link from the "Events and Happenings" page of BiggerPockets that contains all the event info:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/814263-creating-wealth-through-self-storage?page=1#p4867392

If you're free for the meeting, it would be a great one to attend virtually. 

I hope this helps and good luck on your investing journey!

All the best,

Due to the health concerns presented by the coronavirus, we have decided to move this event online. Below I've provided the updated information for the meeting:

Event Date: April 30th, 2020

Event Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8600...

We look forward to seeing you all there!

All the best,

The purpose of this group is to be the go-to resource for people who are interested in learning about the many facets of commercial real estate. Whether you're a business owner, investor or just someone who's curious about the subject, you'll gain value from being a part of the group!

In this meeting, Nick Hollifield, business development manager at Republic Bank, will discuss various topics related to commercial financing including:

1) How to qualify for commercial financing.
2) What underwriters look for when issuing loans.
3) A brief update on Covid-19 and its effect on commercial financing.

After this discussion, we will open up the floor for Q&A. We look forward to seeing you all soon!

All the best,

If you're a business owner, investor or just someone who's interested in learning more about commercial real estate, I'll be hosting a virtual call to discuss commercial lease agreements. Here's the meeting invite:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88217398238…

Meeting ID: 882 1739 8238
Password: 030214

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

All the best,

The Louisville Real Estate Investor Meet Up group is for aspiring, beginning and full-time real estate investors interested in networking with other like-minded individuals. During our monthly meetings, we share ideas, learn from one another and host speakers who talk about topics related to real estate investment.

In this meeting, Rachel Richards, a real estate investor and best-selling author of 2 books, will talk about her journey of achieving financial freedom. In 2019, at age 27, Rachel quit her job as a financial analyst and retired. She now lives off $10k+/mo in passive income. After her interview, we'll open up the floor for a Q&A session.

Due to the concerns presented by the coronavirus, we will be hosting the interview via Zoom. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Hey @Blake LaRussa!

I'm currently house-hacking a 4-plex in Old Louisville and have been doing so for almost 1.5 years. The home was built in 1885 and was converted into a multi-unit building in the 1970s. Here are a few things to consider:

• As mentioned previously, be sure to allocate a larger percentage of your gross rents (i.e. 10%+) for CAPEX and repairs. Older homes will inherently have more issues than newer ones. Therefore, having more money set aside to account for these instances will help mitigate some of the risks.
• Confirm if the property is separately metered and who's responsible for paying the water, sewage etc. In Old Louisville, landlords are often responsible for paying water, sewage and waste disposal so it's important to factor these expenses into your calculations.
• Is your property listed on the "National Registry of Historic Places"? If it's located in Old Louisville, it may be the case. If so, you can qualify for "Historical Tax Credits". HTC is an "indirect federal subsidy to finance the rehabilitation of historic buildings with a 20 percent tax credit for qualified expenditures". These can be quite lucrative if used effectively. Having said that, your total renovations will need to exceed a certain dollar value in order for you to qualify. To see if do, check out the link provided here:  https://heritage.ky.gov/historic-buildings/rehab-tax-credits/Pages/Criteria.aspx
  
  

Overall, I'm glad we decided to pull the trigger on buying the property. Although there were some hiccups early on (vacancies and necessary interior renovations etc.) we were able to stabilize the building within a few months of moving in. It's been a great experience thus far and I encourage you to consider it! Hope this helps.

All the best,

@Jason James @Sean Williams @Rob Bergeron

I agree with all your points. From a logistical standpoint, our location gives us a huge advantage.

You can access almost 60% of the US population within 1 days drive.

Along with that, many large automakers (Ford, Toyota etc.) have committed a significant amount of resources to Kentucky.

They wouldn't have done so if they didn't believe in the future of the economy.

I think the biggest hurdle we'll have to overcome is our state & local tax laws.

I know Elon has been eyeing Tenessee for that reason (i.e. no state income tax). 

Hopefully, our state and local governments can come together to create an incentive package that will attract them to the area.

Jason James - Maybe you can take the lead on the project! lol 

All the best,