All Forum Posts by: Mike Nguyen

Also, my goal seems very similar to yours. I’m glad it’s not a crazy path to take. I also want to do my own personal investments and do not care to manage a firm with many involved. Maybe it will change later but that’s what I see now. Money is not my biggest driver. I just enjoy the aspect of real estate more and more but also want to enjoy more time with my family. 

-Mike

@Joel Owens I’m definitely getting on the same page quickly here. My thoughts were more in the line of any business is good business and a split of commission would be seen as ok but it maybe not now depending on their leads list. I really am fine with giving up commission in order to learn. But I want to find a way in to commercial. Should I approach a local commercial broker and say “I’d like to learn from you on a transaction and you can have the commission in return, can you be transparent on how these things work and the proper due diligence required in these types of deals?”

Thanks again. 

@Robert Leonard Thanks Robert! that site and org is all new to me so great to know now.  I know you're well known locally and would appreciate any input on brokers in the area you may know of that I could work under and learn from.  

@Joel Owens Your perspective of the commission split is completely new to me.  Thanks for the insight! I'm so use to broker and agent only ones sharing commission but it seems right that there could be more folks involved in a larger deal.  I can scrap by to begin with, I just would like some help on the mentor ship side to learn the ropes. I have some friends and family that know I have a residential license and ask me if I can help them look at a strip center and seeing the sale prices of these and commissions it's pretty insane.  I just need some guidance on proper due diligence and a second set of eyes of me running the numbers. 

So my thoughts currently is how would a broker feel if I were to bring in the buyers from my contacts, and help be a guide to sealing the deal?  I would want to have a continued relationship with them throughout my career and would be fine with splitting commission for their services/guidance. Is this normal?  Would they be insulted and not really want to work with me because I'm trying to split the deal?  Thanks for your responses so far!

Hey Guys.  I live just outside of Baton Rouge, LA and currently own a few residential rental units.  I have my Salespersons license working as a self investor agent under a residential brokerage.  Problem is, I'm wanting to go into commercial real estate doing transactions for myself and others.  Mainly retail centers and maybe some multi-family, but open to others.  

Does anyone know of how I can get in this niche of commercial real estate?  Any contacts of people in this area would be great.  

You can contact Will Mercer.  His site is https://mercercpas.com/

He's not specialized in RE but he is in general a good CPA that communicates with you and works with you through issues.  I've had too many deadbeat CPA experiences where they just stop communicating mid tax season and leave you to fend for your self.  Good luck!

I'm fairly new as well and had to deal with issue recently. Commercial lenders are hard to find in general and their terms are not anywhere near as attractive, from my experience, as the conventional mortgage folks. 5-7 years is the max I was able to find, and that's with a 25% down, but I think it's because I'm new and they didn't want to take a big risk. I've used Investar Bank for mine. I would recommend you shop around to see, but make sure you are conservative with you numbers and are still able to pay the bills if you find you are forced to go with a ARM 5 year fixed/20 year am loan like me. Good luck.

In Louisiana you would have to wait until their lease contract is up. A question I would add is would you push tenants to sign a new lease after theirs is up or go month to month? I have a property manager that insists they should sign a new 12 month or pay an up charge if they refuse.

@Manolo D. thanks for the suggestion. 

@Jason Bott thanks for clarifying Manolo's statement as I was wondering what the heck a fire chaser was.  lol.  I'll ask around in my area.  Are these issues not proper to talk about with an insurance agent?  I find that I'm not getting my answers questioned the way I'd like but not sure if they are dancing around a gray area or I'm not asking it right. 

@Jason Bott Thanks for helping to clarify this.  I'm still confused since the people I've been dealing with have not been clear cut on items like these for policy details.  I'll need to be specific in my questions to them.  I've heard from a local investor that I trust that he always insures 80% of the appraised value.  Again not sure if this is ACV, RCV, or Agreed Value and what the fine print entails if I were to have a major (or even minor claim).  

@Manolo D.I never knew insurance agencies would possibly take the rebuild on their own, I always thought they would estimate the cost and cut you a check...always... can others verify this as well?

@Brandon Johnson I would hate to have to rebuild it on my own with a full time job to try and make my 300k work, but I suppose it's a risk vs reward type of thing.  I'll work with my insurers again to determine what the differences in premium would be each way.  

Other questions, how do I know if my policy they quote includes a co-insurance clause?  

So how would I make sure that the actual payout would always be at least 300k?  and also 500k?

Thanks for everyone's replies, it's a huge learning experience working on this first property.  

I'm showing a ROI of about 5.6% (not including equity and appreciation). This is a slightly on the lower end and is hopefully conservative since you used the 50% rule. If this is right and you are ready to landlord then I say go for it just so you can get your first deal in and really get the experience you need to be successful. Also not sure of what responsibilities you two share as far as your wall and hence. Dont forget to get actual numbers to verify the 50% rule. Get quotes on taxes, insurance, utilities, etc. Good Luck!