All Forum Posts by: Teresa Buchanan

Welcome @Tim C!

There is so much information here on Biggerpockets and so many truly helpful people. 

My two cents is to start by identifying your goal. Figure what you really want from real estate. How much money (cash flow), how active you want to be in your investment, and ultimately what you want your life to look like when you achieve your goal. Then work backward to create a solid plan!

You sound like you are well on your way!

Teresa 

Hi Ronald, 

My first investment was a 34 unit apartment building. It took me two years of education and searching to find it. 

I jumped straight in with multi-family because ultimately that’s where I wanted to be and I’m not good at starting small. Should I have done something smaller, like 10 units? Maybe. But the numbers worked and all the stars aligned on this one. 

What really made it work was having an amazing team in place before I closed on it. I had done all my homework on my property management company and they took over from day 1. 

To sum up, from my perspective, jump in with multi-family if that’s your ultimate goal anyway. Educate yourself. Read books, listen to podcasts and get a good mentor. Find your market and your team. Be patient. 

Teresa 

Hi John. Welcome to Biggerpockets! I’m a Bay Area resident as well. 

In addition to the great advice already given you might consider attending the SFBaysummit in February. It’s a great event to become inspired, educated and connected. 

Sfbaysummit2019.com

Welcome Dillon! 

Biggerpockets is filled with knowledgeable people to help you along in your journey. 

And you might want to consider attending the Best Ever Conference on February 22 and 23 in Denver. It’s an amazingly educational and inspiring event. You’ll meet many like minded people there.

Teresa 

I completely agree with Theo and all the other advice given here. To add my two cents I will offer my personal account of my first multi-family investment. 

I ultimately ended up purchasing closer to home (utilizing parameters advised here). The reasons for that all came down to comfort zone. I researched all over the company and had narrowed down my markets to just a few. You can talk to all the people you want but no one is going to see things the same way you do. I wanted to be able to drive to my potential investment, understand (from my own perspective) the good/bad/ugly of the neighborhood. And it is just easier to develop relationships with people you see regularly. Things happen organically. For example, I found my property manager through a friend and I don't think my investment would be as successful without this pm. And lastly, I was very nervous going into my first investment which I wasn't wth my second. When issues came up and I was losing sleep at night it was really nice to be able to drive to the property to help mitigate problems. 

Definitely. Let’s meet for coffee and talk Redding syndication. 

Hi Karen, I have a relatively recent Redding apartment building acquistion of 34 units going through attrtition as we attempt to stabilize. I currently have 12 vacanices. I can turn these around quickly to accommodate need. If you are aware of people needing housing please send them my way.

And if you know good contractors, handymen, plumbers I would love to know their names too! 

Thanks!!

Hi Chris. I own 34 units in Redding. And like you, I live in the Bay Area. My path is similar to yours-looking to do syndication there. Nice to meet you!

Hi Mike, 

I realize this is an older post but were you successful in eradicating the roaches? I’m sitting here scouring biggerpockets for some information on how to rid my apartment building of these disgusting things.

We have regular exterminator services but unfortunately we inherited not so great tenants when we bought this building. Many of them don’t care about the cockroaches and aren’t keeping things clean which is creating a difficult situation as we are trying to acquire quality tenants. 

Any insight is appreciated.  Thank you! 

Teresa 

Daniel, 

I live and invest in California. I’m happy to chat with you. 

Please pm me. 

Teresa