Closed on 155 Units in Houston Yesterday! 3 Lessons Learned...
Yesterday my biz partners and I closed on 155 units in Houston. It's my 3rd syndicated deal. My first was a 168 unit, second 250 units and this one is 155 units. In case you missed it, here are the 2 lessons I learned from my 250 unit deal I closed on last August: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/217842-closed-on-250-apartments-in-houston-texas-yesterday-2-lessons-learned
Now, let's get to the lessons learned on this 155 unit.
1. Go farther, faster by playing to your strengths.
My first deal syndicated deal I did it all. Found the deal, did the underwriting, raised the money, did the due diligence, hired all team members and coordinated with them, closed, asset mgmt, etc.
Great experience but I didn't set the deal up for optimal success because, quite frankly, I'm not an expert at some of those things. For example, underwriting. I'm competent and know how to evaluate if a deal is good or not but I don't have thousands of hours under my belt strictly focused on underwriting deals. And, like most things, the more you do it the better you get.
So, I learned on this deal that I needed to partner with someone who is phenomenal at underwriting large multifamily deals. I actually partnered up with him on my 250 units and this deal re-enforced the need to do it again because it allows me to do what I'm good at and him to do what he's good at. We're both able to do each other's job but wouldn't do as good of a job.
This allows the biz to go farther, faster because I'm focused on my craft and he's focused on his craft. Yes, there's overlap as I triple check all underwriting and review in detail but it's better for someone with lots of experience to be the primary underwriter.
THOUGHT FOR YOU: What's something you are really good at? And what's something you're not good at? Do more of the former and less of the latter because it's likely that you enjoy what you're good at and that's why you're good at it. And, vice versa.
2. Do Something Consistently on a Large Distribution Channel
We're in the sales and marketing business. Fix and flippers, wholesalers, multifamily syndicators, etc are all in the sales and marketing business. Perhaps passive buy-and-hold investors aren't...but I'm sure there's a creative way we could connect them to it.
Since we're in this biz, we must have a consistent, daily presence in order to gain exposure and build credibility with our customers/clients/leads.
Some large distribution channels (with some brainstorm ideas for them) are:
- BiggerPockets (official BP blogger, being an admin, posting, commenting, adding value, offering assistance, being insightful)
- Amazon.com (writing books and publishing them)
- iTunes (podcasting)
- YouTube (video blog, tips, interviews, , make real estate music videos...?! :)
- Facebook (create a community around an in-person event you host then open it up to larger audience)
- Instagram (pics of renovations before/after)
- Twitter (proactively answering real estate related questions)
Whatever you do, do it DAILY.
Consistently.
And do it on a large distribution channel.
So many people want the shiny object. The Super Secret Plan that will let them retire on the beach in Tahiti. I think that's ridiculous. We live in an instant-gratification culture and the truth is that to make a good living in real estate you just need to be consistent with strategic, proven actions. That's it.
3. There is Major Power in Doing a Recorded Conference Call When Raising Money
I already posted about this so I'll just link to that here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/26...
