Attorney · Philadelphia · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
Here's some recurring interactions I continue to have with real estate transaction participants. I suspect all paid for education from gurus. What other forms of guru inspired craziness are people encountering?
1. We are interested in signing a master lease for your building backed by a corporate guarantee and eliminate your vacancy risk.
2. We would like to hire you to perform legal services where we will pay you 15% more than your ordinary fee but it will be financed over an 18-month term. You will benefit from 15% more revenue and the ability to show receivable's which are valuable for borrowing money.
3. We would like to receive a Co-GP title in exchange for raising capital for your investments. We would also require written permission to promote the building ownership and performance through our own company and website.
4. I need to create a management LLC who will sign leases and act as the face of my real estate portfolio in order to direct any claims away from me or the properties.
@Drew Sygit Well said. I can no longer attend a real estate networking event without a Realtor approaching me and introducing himself as both a real estate agent and a real estate coach. From there, he/she tries to determine whether I have the financial means to purchase real estate. If I do, they solicit business. If I do not, I suspect they position themselves to take whatever limited money I may have by selling me education about real estate investing.
had #3 this past week and their response is "well everyone else is doing it", my response was "so". When I was in college a lot of my friends smoked weed, I did not, just because they do does not mean I have too (break the law)
It's like Pace Morby. Like Ted Bundy being associated with being a serial killer Pace is associated with everything scammy and fraudulent in real estate.
Here are sure signs that the person contacting me has been “guru trained”
Their seeking financing of $2.5 million on a $2 million property purchase
They have a deal where they believe they have a 60% LTV mortgage, a 30% seller carry back mortgage, 10% ‘GATOR' financing, and would to borrower the earnest money + living expenses from me.
They’re SHOCKED by hard money rates and terms
They quote any of the following: “the only difference between a $100,000 deals and a $100,000,000 deal is the number of 0s”; “I plan to buy $10 million in real estate this year”; “money is always available for a good deal”; “if you think knowledge is expensive you should see the cost of ignorance”’; “I will use CREATIVE strategies to build my real estate portfolio”.
I need you to sign an agreement to pay me 3 points before I pass on this information
"Being the capital raiser offers you the best lifestyle in real estate. It can be done from anywhere." (or something along those lines from the raisefest conference)
"Acquisitions is worth 20% of the GP, Underwriting is 20%, Operations/Asset Management is 20%, Capital raising is 40%...." or replace this with any set formula for roles and responsibilities.
Similar to above: anytime someone simply says: "that's how its done" or similar statement. Everything in business is negotiable.
Lastly, anytime someone proposes fees structures and carried interest that are comparable to sponsors with long track records, or even worse, more GP friendly then heavily experienced people.