All Forum Posts by: Anthony Fontana

@John Cameron there is no substitute for experience, even for the most intelligent and well-capitalized first time commercial real estate operators. If you plan to secure any form of non-recourse financing, your debt partner will require you to have some level of experience among the owner/operator partnership. That said, I'd start networking with owners and operators to fill this void in your team. Like mentioned above there are a few ways around this such as getting your experience through creatively financed deals or building your way up from smaller multifamily with recourse debt.

@Kaitlyn Nesbitt positive in-migration from the largest renter profiles (millennials and baby boomers), positive population growth at the City, submarket, and tract level, minimal crime, above average job growth, greater than 35k median income at the city, submarket, and tract level.

Would love to chat about where I find this info, we're constantly evaluating cities, submarkets, and neighborhoods around the southeast to make investments.

@Mitchell McLean my first investment property was also in Marietta. I'd be happy to help you find your true rental value since that is probably the most important lever in underwriting. Cobb county (in general) can vary tremendously from neighborhood to neighborhood in terms of rental rates.

Main challenge for me on the investor-side and transaction side is adjusting sellers expectations. Paying for rent that might not be there, or paying for a property based on comps that sold 5 months ago does not work or make sense. You are taking on far more risk today than a few months ago and you should be compensated for that...

@Lisa Clouse did you sign any kind of operating agreement or private placement?

@Jonathan Cox I am a big fan of Northwest ATL/75 corridor. You can learn a lot by watching what the state and local governments are doing and approving in the form of infrastructure. The fact that they have recently finished the fast-pass lanes on the highway is great news and means that there is expected to be a lot more commuting south down 75 from the Northwest.. to follow will be lots more retail, amenities, and housing.

@Sean Bizjack personally I don't think this is an "either/or" question.. There is no reason that you cannot buy your own smaller deals while learning the syndication model. As people have mentioned above, your team during a syndication is MUCH more extensive than the team it takes to buy a quad/tri/duplex. In the smaller space you do not need loan guarantors, syndication attorneys, investor management software, etc.

Please reach out if you have any questions about either bucket, I came to a similar fork in the road and currently do both (invest in small deals with personal funds and partner in syndications with experienced operators). There are a lot of free resources out there I'd be happy to direct you towards to help with the syndication/multifamily stuff.

Hey @Angel Reyes this is a very good question. Personally, I would say to be cautious using hard money with little experience, it can be a good tool but also very risky if not used correctly.

I just shot you a PM and would be happy to provide resources for both types of loan products. 
 

@Jared Wonders I will PM you

@Scot Poore very little new supply in the area, year over year rent growth has been phenomenal, will be interested in seeing how the submarket responds to the virus when it comes to delinquency.