Evans, GA · Member since 2014 · 124 posts · 21 votes
This is a question that came to my mind earlier today and I know that it's possible but I want to see what is the best and fastest way to acquire 20 rental properties in one year?
Rental Property Investor · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Member since 2014 · 220 posts · 256 votes
12y
Doors or even buildings doesn't mean all that much without context. For me it was a question of the outcome. I was looking to create an asset base that would allow my wife and I a specific lifestyle. As a business owner who didn't have any formal retirement plan or some large corporation matching in a 401k, the strategy was up to us. We started with a simple plan. We needed 140k a year after taxes. I sat down with what I knew (3br houses in Santa Cruz, CA) and figured that if I could repeat my 1st success, it would take 12 of them with the right circumstances to achieve the goal. So I set out to acquire the right 12. By the time I bought my third, I learned enough to realize that there were significant obstacles to acquiring 12 (mortgage among others), but that getting the 12 wasn't the goal, the asset / cashflow base was. So we pivoted and began acquiring multi-res. It took 7 years to have 10 doors and it is quite likely we will be around 20 this year.
My point is, 1 property, 20 properties or 200 properties doesn't mean much. A more practical question might be, considering the following working capital + experience + relationships, how do I get the following outcome (money / time ...).
Flipper/Rehabber · Nashville, TN · Member since 2013 · 76 posts · 3 votes
12y
To staey the obvious I'd have to say have a large amount of cash and go onna shopping spree. Seems like that'd be the fastest way. Although I'm not sure how many of us are able, I'm certainly not rigjt now. I'd love to hear othee ways to achieve this goal. "Moniter alert". Good luck.
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
@Jeff Plair going from zero to 20 in 12 months is a tall order. Obviously cash is the way to go but be sure to stash lots of extra to cover the learning curve on management of that many units. Even if you hire a pm, you had better have some money to cover costs that come from not knowing what your are doing or how to watch them or to understand the real cost of ownership.
Rental Property Investor · Arlington, TX · Member since 2012 · 788 posts · 640 votes
12y
I would not recommend going from 0 to 20 in one year. You will more than likely buy properties that will merely break even or even be in the red. Take your time and buy right, otherwise, you will regret becoming a landlord and lose your mind.
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 655 votes
12y
I would first ask how/why you came up with the numbers of 20 properties in 12 months. That's alot of properties for that time frame and like Rocky stated you will probably not be buying good properties. I have been looking for a good deal to pop up for the past few months and only found one that I was comfortable moving forward with (got outbid on the contract). For you to find almost 2 of those a month, unless you were doing some major marketing for motivated sellers, you'd almost have to force yourself to buy risky properties.
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
@Jeff Plair perhaps some vocabulary is in order. Property is defined by a piece of land with it's own legal description. Units are dwelling units (one lease per). You could buy one property with 20 units in a year. That would probably work. You could buy 5 properties totaling 5 units and that would probably work as well, but 20 separate properties is different. 20 properties would be 20 contracts and 20 closings, 20 inspections. You wouldn't have any time to manage what you already purchased.
Evans, GA · Member since 2014 · 124 posts · 21 votes
12y
John Van Uytven I'm working on a property right now 3/2 on .68 acres, but i am working a title issue with my attorney. My short term goal is at least two more properties by the end of this year
Knoxville, TN · Member since 2014 · 116 posts · 57 votes
12y
I bought my first property in January 2013 by December I had 5. I did most of the labor and also leased and managed the properties. If you had a lot of cash you could do 20 in one year but you would definitely be busy.
Real Estate Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2013 · 9 posts · 4 votes
12y
Maybe you can do 20 doors in 12 months. You could start checking out some four unit properties. You will have to save up a good amount of cash, or try to figure out the best way to leverage debt, and tap some equity.
Also try to stay focused on quality over quantity.
I think 20 doors in 12 months could be obtainable if you push for it and plan ahead. In September I will have 8 doors in 9 months (two four units) without really trying very hard.
Real Estate Agent · Farmingville, NY · Member since 2014 · 164 posts · 37 votes
12y
Have cash for three houses, buy one and take out a equity loan the moment after you close and buy another and repeat. As your houses become seasoned (6 months) convert them to standard mortgages.
Involved In Real Estate · Spanish Fork, UT · Member since 2014 · 5 posts · 1 vote
12y
One way I know you could have before the market crash and maybe still today ( not sure about today's lenders and how they handle debt to income ratio) which I've done myself is to find a builder who is still doing lease options for units not sold and is willing to give you a 10% investor discount on the unit by paying your 10% down on the purchase. Its very likely the person leasing the unit is leasing it because of bad credit and they won't purchase it; and if they do then you make some quick money. Not sure but this may be anything of the past. Good luck!
Rental Property Investor · La Quinta, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 779 votes
12y
As of next week I'll have 6 closed in 4 months....it depends on how large of a territory you can exploit a niche (or two or three) in IMO. If your numbers are really solid you shouldn't have trouble finding partners/investors.
Rental Property Investor · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Member since 2014 · 220 posts · 256 votes
12y
Doors or even buildings doesn't mean all that much without context. For me it was a question of the outcome. I was looking to create an asset base that would allow my wife and I a specific lifestyle. As a business owner who didn't have any formal retirement plan or some large corporation matching in a 401k, the strategy was up to us. We started with a simple plan. We needed 140k a year after taxes. I sat down with what I knew (3br houses in Santa Cruz, CA) and figured that if I could repeat my 1st success, it would take 12 of them with the right circumstances to achieve the goal. So I set out to acquire the right 12. By the time I bought my third, I learned enough to realize that there were significant obstacles to acquiring 12 (mortgage among others), but that getting the 12 wasn't the goal, the asset / cashflow base was. So we pivoted and began acquiring multi-res. It took 7 years to have 10 doors and it is quite likely we will be around 20 this year.
My point is, 1 property, 20 properties or 200 properties doesn't mean much. A more practical question might be, considering the following working capital + experience + relationships, how do I get the following outcome (money / time ...).
Real Estate Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2009 · 62 posts · 27 votes
12y
It is certainly attainable, however you will need some things in place to make it happen: 1) Financing- unless you have unlimited resource of cash, you'll need other resources. Options are leveraging bank financing in your personal name, JV w/other individuals leveraging their capital and/or credit, seller financing on prospective properties (sub2, land contract..etc). At some point you will need to leverage these sources because you personally will either run out of personal capital or max out your borrowing ability.
2) Systems- this will be rapid growth and if you don't have a ton of experience this will do nothing but blow your mind, so with that said you need systems in place to handle the quantity. Define your strategy, create systems or SOPs for others to go by in every step of how you want the property ran from acquisition, repairs, marketing, screening, managing(if that all stays in house). This is crucial. you can look at any successful business and a huge reason they are is they all have defined systems in place.
3) marketing- you'll need to have a consistent marketing campaign to drive off market leads to you. You need to be buying roughly 1.5 properties/mo which means you'll need to be evaluating 10-15x that if not more. MLS alone probably won't cut it.
4) define your criteria- know what you are looking for and "Anything that makes sense" doesn't cut it. Specifically define what type prop/condition/location/bd bth/sqft/purchase price point/rents/avg repair $$ and anything else you can think of that you want in your properties. Take that info and communicate it to the world. Leverage everyone that has a pulse that may lead you to a property and offer them an incentive for doing so.
If you can do that, 20 props in 1 year won't be a problem. It's been done before and is happening as we speak. I'm sure there are quite a few of the experienced members that have obtained or surpassed that target.
Carlsbad, CA · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
Going from 0 to 20 will be a lot more difficult than going from 20 to 40 in 12 months. I bought about 20 properties for my own portfolio in last 12 months and the biggest challenge always is the financial resource. You can always build a great team if you have money available.
For money, you either use your own cash, borrow, bring a partner or a creative mix of any of the 3 sources.
What slows a lot of people down is the availability of money to buy properties, so if you can find money to either buy cash or leveraged properties, there really is no real issue in increasing your portfolio size.
Now how you get that money is a whole different discussion.