All Forum Posts by: Austin Fowler

What does your current portfolio consist of? How quickly are you looking to expand it? To what scale do you wish to expand it? What limits your rate of growth? Deal flow or capital?

Hi V.G.,

> Scalability is easily and readily available for the vast majority, scalability is not the issue for most.

When it comes to scalability, I set the bar high. I want to be able to handle a very great deal of capital deployed in a lot of assets while basically on holiday. Using this perspective, to my eyes many people spend a great deal of time working real estate investing techniques that are not scalable. Passive multifamily is the most scalable technique I currently use, and I could use my exact due diligence process to easily handle $100M without changing how I operate. Just bigger checks into the deals I find.

> In my case, The issue for most is how limited their investment capitol is, the massive return expectations being sought, over an exceptionally short time-span.

So how about we focus on discussing how to solve capital limitations in a way that is doable by anyone?

> Many seeking parabolic, unrealistic, compounding returns. Which are not really returns, as so many are actually seeking full income replacement via the "investing".

I don’t work a W-2 anymore. My investing covers all of my expenses and was sufficient to add $2.5M to my net worth over the last 12 months. Full income replacement is definitely achievable.

> To boot, adding in the riders of things such as "passive", "low risk" and "certain"......

> To be fair Austin, you as a syndicator are hacking the scalability via syndication, O.P.M..

I don’t run syndications. I do invest in other people syndications. I have no desire to be a GP on a multifamily syndication with all of the responsibilities and duties that come with it.

> Most are not capable, willing or interested in raising O.P.M. to scale and thus a natural limiter of there investible capitol.

Here I disagree. I think most people just don’t know how to go about it. I have helped hundreds of people learn how to raise capital for their own investing. I have helped quite a number of people start their own SEC registered managed funds. And there is an awful lot you can do with a lot less than this. It’s knowledge that people need.

> Remove your LP capitol, you would not be at the size you are, correct?

Correct.

> No syndicator would. So it's not fair to pretend it's the deals that make scalability alone.

The multifamily deals I focus on are not mine, and from a return point of view are nothing off the charts, the general target is around 20% per annum. And no, it’s not the deal that gets you to huge scale, it is definitely learning how to raise capital. And that is something anyone can learn, and the only way to get to great wealth in a lifetime.

> It is possible but it is very rare, exceptional and non-ordinary for such.

Agreed it is not about the deal, it is about learning how to access capital efficiently. And that is a teachable skill.

> For the vast majority who are measuring their investible capitol in the tens of thousands, while balancing a FT career, a family, life in general, yes it is rare skills and talents to find, analyze and execute on profitable investments at any kind of regularized interval. And in those early steps, the outlay of capitol far outstrips the returns for years or decades limiting any reasonable expectation of scalability.

So you share the load. You don’t try to do all of the deal due diligence yourself. You do it in a group where some (even most) people can even passively ride on the due diligence of others. You don’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to learning how to raise capital, you leverage free tools that already exist.

> In my experience the primary focus for most is not on scalability but on certainty to achieve financial freedom. Which is often defined as a passive income about matching to current active income levels.

Financial freedom requires passive investments at scale. Speaking from experience.

> For most the only scalability that matters is how to get to their ends. I often see a correlation that this is meet for most between 20-40 SFR's.

I would argue that self managing so many single-family rentals is a burden. I’m in that range with managed rentals, and I would say that this is definitely not enough for the level of financial freedom I wish to have, even if they were all paid off, which they aren’t.

> For many, scaling beyond that is just added work, and no longer "freedom" as was the entire intent from start, financial freedom, not an occupation change.

Agreed, but to say the same thing a different way, there are more profitable and more passive investments than single-family long-term rentals.

Are any of your owners on BP? Would love to hear their thoughts on expansion in this thread.

Isn’t cohosting similar to property management where you do not own the underlying asset? Does your company own short-term rentals?