All Forum Posts by: Ronan Donnelly

Hi @Rob Bianco, congrats on achieving financial freedom at such an early age. Financial freedom doesn't have to meet not working but rather having the freedom to pursue our true passions. How about taking some time, probably with a coach or mentor, to find out what it is that you really want out of life and that way you can design your life to help you achieve that. Good luck!

One way to source property managers is to look for comparable properties on apartments.com and from there you can see who the property manager is. Good luck

If your property manager isn't working out it is definitely time to move on. It is however also time to reflect on why it didn't work out.

My personal experience has been that in order for the relationship to work I need to be very clear up-front about what my expectations are e.g. get 3 quotes for every expense above $1k, get my approval for any expense above $350, rent paid by x date, late fees, eviction process etc.

If you take time to reflect on how you could improve your odds of success working with a property manager going forward you will be ready to scale when the time comes. Good luck!

Offer cash for keys

I agree with @Theresa Harris, cash for keys is the way to go. Don’t let someone else’s’ problems become yours.

@Robert Biggerstaff, it’s a really interesting question and touches on a few key topics.

1) You likely need to be active to start with and to build up capital but in order to scale you have to automate, delegate and systematize your active pursuits or take a more passive approach by investing in others deals

2) Setting a pure financial goal is a good start but it can be even more powerful to state your goal in terms of what it will enable in your life I.e. what will happen when you hit $50k a month, will you then not be happy until you are at $100k per month.

Good luck!

@DeAndrea D., look for a CPA that specializes in real estate and ideally who is also an investor. Networking on BP will definitely yield some potential candidates. Good luck!

@Jordan Santiago, I would pass on a deal that diluted my equity ownership at any point due to performance. I am comfortable with paying progressively higher fees to a sponsor that out performs which is the example that @Enrique Huerta has highlighted.

Also, the LP typically own’s all of the equity and the promote is an allocation of cashflow or returns so not technically an allocation of equity in the deal.

Hi @Tithi Mehta, the cardinal rule of real estate investing is to have positive cashflow. Having positive cashflow enables you to fund reserves and to hold on to the property indefinitely which gives you time to allow the magic of leverage, appreciation and debt pay down take effect. Here are my suggestions:

1) Refinance the loan to get a lower rate and thereby lower your payments. Can you consider not increasing the loan balance to further boost your cashflow

2) Evaluate market rents by talking to brokers and looking on sites like renotmeter.com and if your tenants are below market you can have a conversation that brings their rent up but still keeps them in the property. Vacancy is a real cashflow killer

3) If after refinancing and potentially increasing rents you still don’t have adequate cashflow to fund reserves and property management (you will need this at some point in order to scale) you might consider selling the property and rolling the funds into better cashflow markets

4) Investing out of state - there are many markets across the US with positive cashflow and good appreciation potential and Orlando is certainly one of those, maybe with more of a bias on appreciation than cashflow. Pick one market and go deep into that market to understand the dynamics and to build relationships. David Greene has an excellent book on out of state investing

5) Consider your goals - buying single family homes implies that you have got the time to be actively involved in a real estate business. If you are an accredited investor you can also consider investing passively in syndicates which gives all of the benefits of investing directly yourself (cashflow, appreciation, favorable tax treatment) in return for a reasonable fee.

Good luck!

Hi @Isaiah Webb, If you contact sellers you are assured of learning something each time. Here are some initial questions you might want to ask:

1) How long have you owned the asset? The longer they have owned it the more likely it is that they are behind on deferred maintenance and have below market rents

2) Why are you selling? This will provide info that you can use to structure a deal

3) How did you come up with the price? Is it based off comps or off NOI

4) Have you had any offers?

5) Can you provide the financial statements for the last couple of years.

Good luck!