All Forum Posts by: Ryan Landis

As @Kevin Hunter mentioned, try to do everything - the only thing stopping you from perusing both at the time is your ability to be efficient with your time and prioritize. Best of luck!

@Kusum Chanrai make sure you will still make money when paying transaction costs if you are only doing a 3-5 year hold in a market where prices don't move that much!

@William Collins awesome job - congrats!

@Account Closed awesome job - you did great!

@Nick Thurston welcome! Keep reading and you will love what you learn on BP. Also, listen to all of the Podcasts if you have not already!

@Micah Weiss what most people talk about here in the Bay Area is the CapEx - it cost the same for a roof on a $500K house as it does on a $3MM house (all things being equal). Our value is in the land. For you, the rents might be higher but the time is not factored in - and that costs something. For example, if you burn through property managers, that is time you are pumping into the work, and unless you value your time at $10 an hour, this is a "cost" that should also be thinking about. But, as @Chris Mason mentioned, your friend also is probably not keeping to much of that rent on those properties.

@Ethan M. real estate is the way to go! Not sure what your business is but some people will actually look at getting an SBA loan and getting into their own place (just throwing that out there - I am sure you know this).

In terms of multifamily, great strategy. I am biased, but I would try and stay away from the Turn Key stuff on average (not all are bad, some are great, just find a great one). Your PM will make your success if you go anywhere other than your backyard. Get an idea of these fees upfront. Others will mention that it is 10% and 1 month lease up fees in some market - that is much different than what I charge my clients in the Bay - so people just sometimes don't quite "understand" the market before they jump in! Also factor in insurance (flood) and taxes if you go out of state - you might not be used to those here.

@Dardi Fuller welcome! Best of luck - you will do great! Network as much as you can, it will pay dividends!

Real estate is cyclical - it just is. The ups and downs and the stages of each cycle are heavily followed in the commercial space (every big commercial brokerage has a PowerPoint slide in each of their decks about the stage of strip malls, apartments, office, hotel, etc.)

Trying to time a market is crazy - but that is not what most people mean when they say they want to "time a market." What they are really saying is that they want to try and buy after the cycle has hit the bottom but once it has already had a bit of a tick up and they are betting that it will not double dip. In every market there is always a great deal to be had - the main thing is that most people do not come across these (at no fault of their own, they just are not talking to the right people or patient enough).

Be careful ever doing something with a primary residence - for most people, where their kids grow up/what schools they are going to/how the commute is/etc. matters more than avoiding an unrealized loss (assuming it is not too big).

@Account Closed was spot on in that post.

One other thing I think people forget about that I want to quickly share - if you are looking at a deal and it comes close to what you want, quickly evaluate it for some of the other ways to make money too (why not if you have already spent the time looking at it as a buy and hold). For example, if you think there is a clear way to significantly bump rents but it still falls short of what you want, does buying, bumping and selling make you money after paying transaction and holding costs?