All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

@Daniel Torres

For passivity, it's hard to beat syndications. After owning a few single family homes (as I do), you will start to notice the benefits that would come with more scale. Eventually your brain will say: "Man, this would be easier and more cost effective if I had more units." Naturally, you will end up at syndications one way or another. Not to say that diversifying is a bad idea. I still own singe family homes, but I have definitely decided to focus on it much less.

@Billy Linn

Yeah, like I said, pretty intense... so I would give yourself some time to practice the concepts as well.

@Mike Harris

Depending on your goals, it CAN be a good idea, but I am very skeptical at the moment. High cost, virtually no ability to cashflow, the city is flooding with new inventory, etc. 

I enjoy living in NYC, but I think it's a particularly trying time for a regular investor to do a project here. I prefer to make money here and get it out of the state as fast as possible.

@Malka Fischman

Trenton is probably the best market for those kind of numbers (and the ability to cashflow). With the recent Newark water problems, I would keep your powder dry for a bit. It's not that you can't do things to manage that risk, but if it is a big one, I imagine we'll see some price reductions.

@Zachary Beauchesne & @Mike Justice

You're not going to be able to do it without a decent partnership in place. I just sold a duplex we owned in Virginia. It was decent, we turned a profit, but felt we had managed it sub-optimally because our management team was not as proactive as we would've liked. You'll get dinged on the 'must have' items, because you can't go over there and check it out yourself, or build good systems and processes to manage that.

Syndications and more passive investments tend to rid you of this problem. The manager is taking all those efficiencies on their shoulders. Given the preferred return arrangements, the asset manager is very much incentivized to build efficiencies, because they will make very little money otherwise.

Regardless, have a ground game strategy and know that before you go into a market. Big projects from a distance can be quite a money pit.

@Billy Linn

I did the Google AdWords course. It was very good. The material was so strong I had to take some time off to practice before going back in for more:

https://www.udemy.com/the-ultimate-google-adwords-training-course/

@Rickey Davis

Make sure you're holding onto reserves at some level in the account that you're collecting in. An unexpected bill hits really hard if you're draining that account every month.

I am at a point where I just let the money accumulate every quarter, calculate the reserves I need (which accumulate every month) and then take a distribution that I pay out to myself and any partners I have. This is the kind of system you'll want to move to as you grow.

Been helping with advice and the product launch for a Chrome Plugin that helps investors find opportunity zone properties. It's available for free, here.

Right now, the team is primarily looking for feedback and ideas of what other data services investors need when searching on popular listing sites. The product is in beta, so be mindful of the fact that improvements are rolled out on a weekly basis.

@Stephen Groves

This post is sure to bring out all the responses, but I think you have gotten that sentiment a few times here.

One thing I would consider is how spread out you'd like to do the investment. Many syndicators do 50k minimums, so you could get experience with a few syndicators and different asset classes.

On that note, I would also give some thought to what kind of assets you find most compelling. Syndications can include wineries, nursing homes, or workforce housing (and many other things). The behavior & returns of those different assets will vary. Additionally, they will be more resilient / sensitive to different market dynamics. You should decide what kind of investment you are looking for. If it's a hedge, know what you're hedging against. If it's for income, know what kind of income floor you want to have.

@Adam Sankowski

Build relationships with syndicators and investors on Bigger Pockets. That's how I got my start with passive, larger scale projects. Old podcasts are a goldmine to hear firsthand from some syndicators that are doing great work. Obviously, you should verify they are what they say, but you'll be pleasantly surprised in many cases.

I have a similar situation with my own father. You may want to assess her risk tolerance. In his case, I don't want him to join as an equity partner because the risk is a bit high for him. I have brought him into private loans. The turnaround and comparative certainty of that approach works well.