All Forum Posts by: Sean Murray

@James Gates Welcome to the Community! I have a very close family friend who, like you, invests in property out of state due to the fact it is tough to cash flow in California. His portfolio of SFR is spread out in states such as Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, and I think one in Nebraska. I had a recent conversation with him that I'd like to share. It may prove to be resourceful to you:

How do you decide on what out of state markets to purchase into? Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Research the Counties/Areas with the lowest unemployment and the largest employer base. Find where their manufacturing plants/facilities are. Connect with local agents to verify.

How do you scale your business? By implementing systems so your business runs with minimal effort and autonomously. SFR are hard to scale once you reach a certain point. However, apartment buildings are much better positioned to scale your business. Now looking to purchase a multi-unit.

Hopefully this is helpful to you James when evaluating investment opportunities out of state! I work in Redlands as a CRE Agent so if you ever have any questions or would like to meet for a cup of coffee to discuss further, let me know! Good luck!!

@Chris Collins talk with your city to see what type of businesses your zoning will permit in your commercial space. From there, you will need to do research on the Tenant pool of business types that can operate within that permitted zone. @Kathy Henley touches on pretty much everything else. Connect with a local commercial agent to get an idea of the rents available.

Commercial Tenants are all unique, and depending on their use, many will require extensive build out for their business to run profitably. With a longer term lease (3-5 years) and a strong credit Tenant, you might be more inclined to pay for more of the Tenant Improvements, or share some of the costs and amortize the TI cost throughout the Lease Term. Its all negotiable.

If it is in a high traffic area and has great visibility, place a sign in the window and see what type of activity you receive! I would recommend staying away from listing sights like Craigslist and aim to list on sites such as LoopNet, CommercialSearch, 42Floors, and CoStar. These listing platforms for commercial spaces usually require a hefty monthly fee, but your local commercial broker should have access to all.

Goodluck!

@Stephen Smith Welcome to the BP community! I graduated from the Univ. of Redlands and started my RE career right out of school. You are wise to begin educating yourself now on how to be financially independent. Keep learning, networking, and never stop thinking of creative ways that you can begin investing.

Let me know if you would like to grab coffee in Redlands. We recently opened a satellite office downtown, so I will be spending more time there.

Hello @Rick Wang and welcome to the BP community! I currently work in Ontario and lived in Redlands for many years, so I know the area well. Best of luck investing!

Welcome to the community @Patrick C.! Interested to hear more about your Redlands property and how it is performing. Let me know if I can offer any advice. 

Hey @Michael Welton, Welcome to BP! It's great to see another young investor looking to invest early. As mentioned earlier, condo's can be tricky. If you go down that road, make sure to review the HOA fee's and financials. Personally, I would recommend looking more into house hacking. Find a good spreadsheet to run the numbers on to evaluate if a Condo or Duplex/Triplex/Quadplex would be the better investment.

Sounds like your motivation will lead you to great success. Good luck to you @Jalen Diaz and keep us in the loop on how it goes for you!

Hey @Jalen Diaz, welcome to BP! I grew up in Phoenix and have had a lot of friends graduate from Eller. Great to see another AZ native join the site.

It sounds like you have some great experience already working in real estate. Out of curiosity, why do you plan on focusing on wholesaling properties and not working in commercial or residential brokerage? Is wholesaling something you would like to do to make some extra money while in school? Also, do you have plans to acquire your Arizona RE license? 

Hi Joe, All the contracts I use on a day-to-day basis are AIR/AIR CRE contract forms. They are widely used throughout the commercial world, and also have product type specific contracts. You purchase tokens and each set of contracts is worth a certain amount of tokens. Not sure how it works if you are not a member though. If you google AIR CRE I am sure their website has more information.

I have structured a deal in the past where my brokerage team put 2/3 of our commission back into the deal. You notify the escrow officer that you will be crediting a portion of your commission back to the buyer. I like to keep things simple, but how you structure your deal is completely up to you.

Hope this helps.

I know of a property in Redlands that is a Queen Anne Victorian home and it has commercial zoning (SFR, multifamily, or professional office uses accepted). PM me if you would like additional info.