Specialist · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2018 · 40 posts · 11 votes
I’ve been asking for a while now, how can I get started in Multifamily investing. I’ve gotten a few different responses the most common being that it’s nearly impossible to get started with now track record or money to invest. A few responses stating that I can bring deals to investors and use the fee to invest with. I just want to know how can I find off market deals with no credibility and will investors talk to someone with no experience?
You have to link up with a group that has a track record, build the relationship with that group, add value based on the group's needs, then you can ride that group's coattails. That's how I got started... Good times!
@Stephen D. no one has experience until they do. You can shadow someone, partner with someone, do a master lease, or start small (single, duplex, triplex) and work your way up.
I’ve been asking for a while now, how can I get started in Multifamily investing. I’ve gotten a few different responses the most common being that it’s nearly impossible to get started with now track record or money to invest. A few responses stating that I can bring deals to investors and use the fee to invest with. I just want to know how can I find off market deals with no credibility and will investors talk to someone with no experience?
You can partner as others have said or just take a reduced ltv and use a portfolio lender. You have to have some cash, an entity and a decent credit score (over 650), but it's doable. Many start house hacking which I almost always recommend. Low barrier to entry and lets you get your feet wet.
Welcome to the humbling stage of Real Estate. When I started out, I didn't know left from and right and I swear to you to this day I get chills down my spine when I lay in bed at night thinking about the things I said and did to get my first deal. I didn't knowingly do wrong, I just didn't know enough. You'll have moments like these, and they'll push you to work harder and be more precise than any critically acclaimed self-help book out there.
You need to let the hunger absorb you and dive into books, podcasts, and online classes. Spend every day learning what makes a fix/flip a good deal, learn what it takes to analyze a multi-family property, and send messages to people on BiggerPockets who you would want to learn from. Not everyone is willing to help, but all you need is one push in the right direction!
To find off-market deals, watch YouTube videos on them. There are numerous ways to find them, you just need to find a couple you're willing to try.
@Stephen D. find someone experienced, and bring them deals and money for a percentage of the GP side. Doesn't matter if you're 1 or 100% of GP side, you now have a budding track record. Start small and be patient, these things take time. If you want to find deals and want more credibility behind your name, talk to someone experienced and see if you can say you work with/for them and here is there track record. However, don't abuse that because if you start throwing out left right and center and piss them off, they're going to tell you to stop and not work with you again.
Your biggest challenge will be lack of credibility. No one wants to work with someone who doesn't know what they are doing (or aren't "perceived" to know what they are doing). So, you need to work on your perception. First, rather than posting that you don't know anything, focus on explaining what you do know, what you are good at, and what aspects of your background could help you as an multifamily investor.
More specifically, here are a few ways to break into multifamily with no experience:
Past business experience: if you have a strong business background (i.e., been promoted, held a high level position at a large company, started your own business), you can leverage your track record and translate your skills into multifamily
Thought leadership platform: create an interview-based podcast, blog, YouTube channel, start a meetup group. You will benefit from the education and networking, but more importantly, you can position yourself as an expert in the multifamily niche
Intern for a multifamily investor: find an experienced investor who is currently doing what you want to do and proactively add value to their business for free to get in the door
Start small: start with an SFR to 4-unit and work your way up
As you will notice, all of these strategies are time consuming. And that's the point!
As others mentioned you can do a few different things, however you have to clear in your mind first as to what you're best at?!
Can you raise capital? Are you good at underwriting perhaps? Or something else maybe? Your best bet is to figure your own best skill set and leverage it to your advantage while asking the deal sponsors about their needs. When your skill set matches their needs and you can actually deliver, the opportunity will be golden!