how to find multifamily listings ?

Question

Hello everyone, How do I find a person or entity to help me? How do I find the multifamily listings without a realtor? Is it the MLS? Can someone point me in the direction I need? My dream for 20 yrs, is to invest in multi family housing, but life gets in the way. Looking small to start but I dream big..

Mario Tavares · Answer

Hello Kenneth.

Because you are asking questions on how do I find a person or entity for multifamily listings, you should definitely interview multifamily brokers to represent you in the transaction...including, RE Lawyers, Property Managers, Inspectors, Lenders, Contractors of all sorts, etc.  ...and a multifamily broker has all of these contacts already a phone call away.

Multifamily (5+ Units) investing is in an investor arena, so if you do not know what you are doing you will get destroyed.  Which means your 20 year dream could be over before it even starts depending on how old you are.

If you are just window shopping, great, go out to loopnet.com, cityfeet.com, commgate.com, hud.gov, etc. and get familiar.  But, if you want to invest in multifamily (5+ Units) then you need a professional team.

However, if your definition of multifamily is the 1 - 4 family SFR then you can use realtor.com, zillow.com, etc. and make some mistakes and you still should be in the game...but, I suggest you still interview professionals to assist you in this endeavor, as well.  That way you won't loss any part of your capital, but you'll be adding to it.  That's why we invest...

Go get'em...but, do it the right way out of the gate!

Bill Regan · Answer

Find a Realtor in your desired market who also invests or has invested in small multi-families.  I find listings for them on Zillow and Realtor.com, which both pull from the MLS.  But a Realtor will be able to set up a search for you with pricing, location, and unit parameters that will send you an email anytime something new hits the market.  Working with a Realtor from a buyer's perspective costs you nothing as the seller pays the commission.

Tom V. · Answer

@Kenneth Collins

A quick google search got me this

http://somls.rapmls.com/

Michael Le · Answer

Why do you want to look without a Realtor? You can more easily get away without a Realtor in the SFH space but unless you're experienced, I would think you would welcome the expertise of a commercial broker. Either way, I guess that wasn't your question. You can find deals on LoopNet, CoStar, or CommGate but generally would find better deals networking with a broker.

Jason Merritt · Answer

Find a broker strictly focused on multifamily deals. They're the ones scouring the market and constantly talking to motivated sellers and will be your primary conduit to legit deals. Most of what you see on MLS and LoopNet is already picked over. Good luck!

-Jason

Mario Tavares · Answer

Hello Kenneth,

I have no problem with REIT's, Stocks, Mutual Funds, Options, Business Interests, etc.  I participate in everyone of those investment vehicles, but they are passive (I have no control of the outcome, management, financials, other) and my only control is the capital I put in and the return I pull out (if any), based on the speculation of my research.

Even my large mulifamily investments are passive, I do not have any say outside of my agreements and even within my agreements (when I get my money back and how much) my say is limited and subject to risk.

What I do control, are the investments that I own 100% or a high percentage (majority owner) under my leadership strategy.  These are the investments that require me to choose when to acquire/dispose, upgrade, refi, etc.  These are the investments that will require you to take responsibility over every aspect of operations even if you are not actually running the day to day functions...like Agreements (Lawyer), Renters (Property Management), Construction (Construction Manager or GC or GM), other.  i.e. If the investment fails or is performing poorly, you are the blame and if the investment succeeds or performs according to the strategy or better, you are the blame.

These investments are considered passive (in the RE investment world) because they do not require a lot of time, but according federal regulation these investments are my profession.  Much like the REIT portfolio manager or REIT owners, but on a smaller scale.

Long story short, invest in it all based on strategy.

Kenneth Collins · Answer

Thank you for taking the time to advise me. It will take time and it sux, cuz I want it now..which is the impulse I have to curb so I dont get in over my head. What do you think of REIT?  . Thank you very much. I only wish I had started five yrs ago...

Thanks again.

how to find multifamily listings ?

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