All Forum Posts by: Ronan Donnelly

@Account Closed, it is a competitive market and as a part time investor you will be competing with full time investors who specialize in sourcing deals. Take some time to figure out whether you want to compete at this level, with a full time job and a kid.

A better option might be to partner with the full time professional where you can help bring funds or to leverage your W2 job to get credit. If you are looking for something entirely passive, but with all the benefits of physical real estate ownership (depreciation, LT cap gains, debt pay down, value-add equity creation, etc) but run by a professional team you might consider investing with a syndicate. This approach worked well for me and allowed my to scale significantly with the limited time I had. Good luck!

Hi @Wally Klosner, it is great to find a property with below market rents since increasing them will allow you to create equity in the property. Ultimately, the faster you get to market rents, the faster you increase the value of the building which you can then use to refinance and get your capital back.

Your key concern is to minimize the loss of rent if one tenant leaves and you have to find a replacement. Here are some ways that you might want to think about that risk

1) What does supply/demand look like in your area and how long do you think it would take to get a market rate tenant

2) Set expectations with the existing tenants that you would prefer them to stay and therefore you will be implementing a small increase but that they will still be below market and will therefore save $x per year over a comparable rental

3) highlight any additional value that you will bring in return for the higher rent e.g. more responsive management, rehabs, additional amenities etc.

4) Assess whether the tenant is one that you are interested in keeping e.g. do they pay their rent on time and do they look after the unit

Good luck!

It's a tough market for sellers in NYC right now. If you have to sell you will likely need to compete on price. It might be better to refinance as much as possible while still maintaining cashflow and subsequently getting a HELOC in case you find a use for those funds that deliver a better return than the cost of borrowing. Good luck!

Hi @Account Closed, I recently left full time W2 employment to focus on real estate full time so with that for context, here are some thoughts to share:

1) Recognize that any issues that you might have with 9-5 employment are likely down to you. You will need to do some soul searching to understand how you can recognize what you need to focus on in order to succeed in your next role

2) You should plan to invest a lot of time up front on understanding your "Why?" and only when you understand this should you map it to a strategy that is in line with your unique skills and motivations

3) You will need discipline and an execution plan - being your own boss is great but you also need to figure out how to be your own best employee

4) Define a plan and set interim milestones - being an entrepreneur can be a lonely profession and success is not a straight line so plan for getting yourself some small wins and maintain a long term perspective to help get you past short term challenges.

5) Understand what constraints leaving full time employment will eliminate e.g. more time to focus on real estate, and what constraints it will introduce e.g. less income and ability to get credit

6) Understand that you will need a team to succeed so make sure that the people in your life on whom you depend on for support are fully behind you

Here is an article that I wrote that might be of additional help - https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/11782/88425-want-success-here-are-ten-things-you-must-give-up

Good luck, going on your own has got enormous upside potential but it is not pain free.

1) Start by house hacking a multi, this is a low risk way to learn

2) Focus on building relationships and getting good at finding deals

3) Define a production line process from acquisitions through rehab and disposition

Get all of these right and the money will find you. Good luck!

I agree with @Michael Ealy, the best way to ramp up, safely, is to partner with other syndicators who lack the skills that you have. Finding deals in this environment is a challenge and presumably you have got some real skills in terms of sourcing deals, given your flipping business. Good luck!

Cash, is, and always will be, king. 

It's more a case of investors looking for safety in terms of principle in exchange for lower yields. With the new rent control rules there has been an increase in people wanting to sell which probably represents an opportunity for someone with a longer term view.

Hi @Michael T Carrigan, it depends on what kind of asset you are trying to analyze....

 They pay cash!