All Forum Posts by: Ujwal Velagapudi

Very inspiring, @Jason Malabute. We all have weaknesses, and for you to recognize it and take the actions towards improving it into a strength of yours is absolutely amazing. You actually just made me write one of my weaknesses down that I want to take actionable steps towards improving - thank you!

As you can imagine, they may be inundated with texts, especially if it's their personal cell and not an automated one. That may just be their preference. But as for showing it, like the others have said, they are required to. But in my experiences, I personally don't think all the selling agents I've worked with have truly taken in an offer. I've got no proof of it, but days and weeks would go by and a simple "not interested, rejected" would be all the response I get. I like Mike's method of calling the broker directly if you go a full week without hearing anything, and even that may be too long especially given how quickly properties are going on the market today. 

Just a few I've noted down to ask. Some are subjective, so those are for you to be a good detective on figure out. Do more legwork and due diligence up front to see if this is a worthwhile opportunity, can save you a ton of time & money on the back-end. 

2018, 2019, and 2020 YTD rent rolls - at least 2019 and 2020 should be verifiable via bank statements.

How many of those tenants are on their first lease, versus subsequent one? Are leases about to be expiring soon? 

How has (if at all) covid impacted the last few months? Any delinquencies? Has renting become much harder? Is anyone showing signs they aren't going to renew?

Value add opportunities: What could these additions (e.g. fence, cameras, etc.) increase to the overall value of the asset? Any potential to add or upgrade units? Could you streamline some of the owners operations?

Verify all expenses. Find out every expense, everything and anything remotely needed to run his operation. 

Any capital expenses required, or can you take over without any capex worry for a while?

Run the comps for similar facilities nearby. 

Bachelor's in Supply Chain Mgt. (part of the business school). Helped me get a job, that job allowed me to make & save cash, but ultimately led me to start investing in real estate and other businesses until I eventually quit and no longer use that degree. 

Was it helpful? Not really, but looking at this thread I guess it was slightly more helpful that I had a business degree. 

Love the ambition and hustle already, Eric! I can definitely understand where your head is at, I used to teeter back and forth on this as well. What I ultimately concluded on, at that particular time in my life, is that it is not about how much you make but how much you save. I was always frugal, but I tracked what I was saving out of my cash flows rather than simply my gross earnings. 

Depending on your area of expertise and focus, I think it's more valuable to stick to cash flow for most people. Then focus on increasing that cash flow, which ultimately will increase the valuation of your underlying asset, therefore increasing your overall net worth. Just personal opinion, but I feel cash flow is more fundamentals vs investing in potential appreciation projects (e.g. startups) is speculation. 

I can't quite translate this to stocks, but I think getting a job or starting a small side hustle (even in the real estate world) can yield more cash flow than what dividends would give...unless you've got hundreds of thousands sitting in the bank. 

Never tried to build one, but there does seem to be a lot of market need for warehouses (larger ones) and will only rise in the future with ecommerce. If other commercial assets reclassify into warehouses, then it may be tough (like dying shopping malls). Instead of building one from scratch, going the re-purposing route could be an option for you too. 

I had a small 3 unit warehouse and it was a challenge sometimes to occupy one unit since it was smaller. My two units had long term (35+ years) tenants as they were a machine shop. In my limited experience with warehouses, I'd think a larger one who invests in the unit with equipment & technology is better since moving out for a large tenant would be much more expensive than a smaller, more nimble business (e.g. a distribution warehouse vs. a landscaping business). 

That is a good point. I wonder what the legality around it would be, or if there is anything in the executive orders preventing it. Have you already tried this or have had some success with getting a judgement on tenants in civil court?

Out of the nearby neighborhoods, Canton will be the nicest one, even Plymouth (a bit further), but harder to find multifamily there (and will be a lot more $$). Dearborn or Westland will be the best mix of a decent area, but still may be able to find a few multi-units. I've considered a few different multifamily buildings in Wayne and Inkster though, but both aren't quite as nice as the other cities I've mentioned, but you'll find more opportunities for buildings. There are a few other adjacent cities, but I personally am not all that familiar with them. 

On all these "what will happen" threads I've been thinking that how much we have vested, and in what assets, are also going to subconsciously sway us one way or another. If you're fully vested to the brim, you'll definitely want things to keep trending up and will to some degree make yourself believe it. At the same time a fully divested/liquid person would be sitting there anticipating (hoping?) for a downturn so they can put their cash to use, and they want to justify for not investing as they simultaneously feel some FOMO (like now when equities have bounced back to being scorching hot).

Just take a second and pretend you are in opposite shoes, either fully vested or fully divested. Your brain may start to look at things differently, even slightly...

I think many people, rightfully so, are hoping & thinking that a vaccine being approved will be the end of all of this. I'm no medical professional but I do understand that there needs to be enough supply manufactured, reach the full population, have vaccine tracking capabilities, etc. An available vaccine also doesn't mean it is fully effective. If this will be developed and approved within ~12 months, in early 2021, I am not too optimistic that it will be as effective as other vaccines we have available today that have been refined for years and we definitely won't know the long term side effects or how often we'll have to keep taking (seasonal?) it since it may wear off. I'm buckling in for the long haul (another 12-24 months) of virus related risk, but absolutely hoping the first vaccine comes out ASAP, has near full efficacy, and little/no side effects so we can save countless lives and get back living. 

I think much of the impact to the economy will of course be based on the virus, but as this virus drags on, there are a lot of other side effects and long term consequences of the actions being taken today. 

Everyone has their own risk tolerance, but I just hope everyone does a thorough analysis of the market and understands the many factors that are at play when they invest today...it's not the same as a simple real estate investment anymore but also many complex economic, political, medical, etc. factors that are going on, which frankly are over most people's heads (including mine!).