Advice for growing Apartment Owner

[Eric Benzenhoefer]

Career advice requested:

I am a 2 yr investor who has rehabbed and am now running an 11 plex with an experienced partner.  I enjoy running the property much more than the acquisition or the rehab. I enjoy the daily interaction with people and creating quality systems that lead to quality, and legal, work. Plus with the systems, we are creating the ability control our schedules and work remotely (i.e. the freedom to take an extended weekend trip and stay on top of things).

I am educating myself on acquiring larger apartment buildings and understand that I need great knowledge and a bit of money to attract a partner with more money and a bit of knowledge.

My Question

What should I do to make money and acquire the knowledge needed to walk a distressed multifamily property and identify what is needed to turn it around?

I was thinking of either:

1. Joining an apartment management company to learn the ropes.

2. Start a property management company for small apartment building that larger companies would not be interested in.

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Looking for educated opinions...

[Franklin Spees]

I took a slightly different approach which you might be interested in given you already own and manage some doors.  My career in property management began with a 16 unit building my grandparents purchased and my wife and I managed during grad school.  We learned the ropes, joined the local apartment association, and took a few hard knocks to the chin.  Took a couple years to smack the naivety out of us when dealing with dishonest tenants.  But that building grew to several more.  Fast forward, got brokers license moved and started a new management company from scratch leveraging what we already knew, read, got certifications, hired employees, now we're pushing 500 doors under management.  It wasn't always full time, in fact I had another full time job while building the critical mass.  Getting a job might be a great way to learn under another person's experienced wing but just be careful not to stay too long.  Remember the flexibility and control that you were talking about.  It's only truly achievable when you own the company.  Best of luck.