All Forum Posts by: Whitney Sewell

Transitioning from one business to another isn’t a tough decision to make if your reason is your family. In my interview with Adam Beckstedt, he shares how he sold a previously successful business and he shares how that move made him closer to his kids and his wife.

For Adam, real estate is a long-term business that will let you go where you want to be. He shares how going into conferences and organizing meetups can help you to network with the right people. He also talks about the YouTube page he’s created to teach people how to invest in real estate passively. CLICK below to LISTEN or watch & SHARE this if it was helpful!

http://bit.ly/AdamBeckstedtWS212

Great post @Taylor L.  

We hire professional property management.  They normally manage the construction as well.  I can definitely see your concern with not having this in house.  Interviewing the management team can be one of the most important steps you take when acquiring a large asset.  We will ask for referrals from other syndicators in that market, walk many other properties they manage, and review their books to see how efficient they are operating.  I like to know they have managed similar assets successfully in the past. Similar in size, location, class, degree of renovations, etc.  

As the Asset Managers, we are monitoring them on a weekly basis at a minimum. We are confirming we are following our projected timelines, that renovations are going as planned, etc.   

If they are not performing I want to act fast.  I want to know as soon as possible.  I could see big problems arising if we were not monitoring them, they get complacent and were not a priority to them.   

I could see us having in house management in the future.  As for now, if I can find the right Property Management Team I will hire it out.  If I can't find the best property management team I won't buy the asset. 

Once you open your eyes and see the ability to make wealth in other ways, you can’t go back.

In my interview today with Vanessa Peters, the founder of VMD Investing, shares how she helps to teach other colleagues and professionals raise capital, connect with experienced operators, and build passive income through syndication.

She gives us a glimpse at the time when she was trading time for money. When her bank account wasn’t growing, Vanessa shares that’s when she started looking into real estate and dive deep into syndication, which, according to her, gives us tremendous opportunities and options to create passive income.

Click below to listen or watch!

http://bit.ly/VanessaPetersWS210

Deferred Sales Trust (DST) is a strategy that’s been around for about 22 years. However, it’s not that well known because it’s proprietary in nature. In my interview with Greg Reese, the Founder, President, and CEO of AmeriEstate Legal Plan and Principal of Reef Point LLC, shares his expertise about Deferred Sales Trust.
According to Greg, it is a specialized form of an installment sale which is a way for you to defer capital gains. It is a great vehicle when the investor partners want to go their own direction. Greg also touches on the advantages and opportunities of DST while comparing it with the 1031 exchange.
Click below to listen or watch!

http://bit.ly/GregReeseWS209

One of the methods to go into multifamily investments is to have multifamily loans, and there are lots of ways to figure out the best option.

James Eng, Senior Director of Old Capital, enlightens us about multifamily debt and what you need to do to apply for one. James outlines the three questions you need to answer that will help identify what type of loan the property and you as an investor qualifies for.

Moreover, he walks us through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and what we need to know about them, and the other loan options available if we do not qualify for those two government financing lenders.

Click below to listen or watch!

http://bit.ly/JamesEngWS208

@Jordan Lucas I can't promote on here but you can go my my website to find the podcast.

I would start with @Joe Fairless and @Theo Hicks book The Best Ever Apartment Syndication Book.

There has been some great advice given here.  @Jordan Lucas I am impressed that you are thinking about this at 16.  I agree with @Greg Scully, if you start now you could retire by the age of 30.  

For now, at 16, I would find someone in the business that is doing what you want to do.  I do my best to add value to them in some way.  Adding value could be something as simple as sharing their posts on social media and helping promote them before you ever reach out to them personally.  Then when you do reach out to them they would have seen your name many times already.  Then offer to work for them for free even if it is just Saturdays, and, even if it is just picking up trash around their properties.  Do it, and do it the best you can.  Get in there and make it happen.  Help that mentor any way you can.  Soon they will start helping you more and more.  

Finding a mentor at the age of 16 will be life changing.  Help them and educate yourself while your friends are at the movies.  It will pay off.  You'll be retired at 30 and they'll still be working 40 hours a week so they can aford to go to the movies over the weekend.  

Let me know how I can help.  Listen to podcasts, they are free.  Depending on the business you want to be in there are many books that I cna reccommend.  

Congratulations on closing six deals while working full time! 

I have been using VA's for a long time. I am sure that you have a lot of other tasks you could hand off to a VA as well. Just think about tasks you do in your business every day as you do them that you could let someone else do. Remember you don't have to hire them full time. You can start with just a few hours a week to try them out and make sure they are capable of completing your tasks. I have found the best VA's using Upwork.

You have to create a detailed job description. This is very important. You can pay per task or per hour. There are many possibilities here. There are other VA's companies that specialize in helping real estate professionals. I would rather interview my VA's myself.

Make sure they are 100% fluent in English, worked at least 100 hours for numerous people, have a 100% rating, and have been working recently as a VA.

You can find VA's in other countries that can do all these tasks for a cheaper price. However, you have to be good at interviewing them.

I would hire one as soon as possible.  It may not work out, but you will learn a lot, improve, and hire better the next time.  

You can make a list of tasks. Then video yourself doing the tasks. Put the videos in a shared folder so your new VA can watch them. Then they can go back and watch them from time to time instead of having you ask you questions all the time.

Let me know if I can help.  I could talk about this for a long time.  

Taking something that has good bones is the axiom of most realtors. They take and revitalize these zones and turn them into opportunities.

In my interview with founder of Re-viv, Matthew Ryan defines what opportunity zones are and outlines their benefits. With close to ten years of experience in real estate and construction, Matthew shares the tools in finding an opportunity zone, and tackles the risks in investing in one versus value-added multi-family. 

As he goes through the ways to mitigate the risks in this kind of real estate investment, find out what co-living models are and how substantial improvement clause works.

Click below to listen or watch!

http://bit.ly/MatthewRyanWS207

Finding a mentor can be very difficult but is a must to speeding up the learning curve.  It will give you more confidence and allow you to learn (hopefully) without any major mistakes.  

Are you going to local meetups?  Are you finding people in the area that are successful doing what you want to be doing?  

Find ways to provide value to them before you even meet them.  Like their posts on BP, share their content on social media, learn details about their company before speaking to them to show you have done your homework, etc.  

If you can, offer to work for free soon as you know someone that you want to mentor with unless you are doing a paid mentorship.  Let me know how I can help.  I am not far from you.