All Forum Posts by: Brian Briscoe

Between first and most recent... that's a great question. Partnership definitely helped with our first deal...

I'd say the biggest contributor to our growth was focusing on building our reputation. When we closed on our first, we struggled raising capital. Our most recent was our 9th, and the efforts we made to build our brand and reputation through social media, networking events, meetups, and conferences, has made the capital raising side much easier. On the operations side, I learn best by doing and 2 years of operating a small portfolio dramatically increased our capability to manage.

@Gena Pineda

How many times do you show your ID or DL to random strangers when you want something? Like buying alcohol or tobacco. Or maybe when the notary asks when you’re signing the closing docs…

I don’t think a potential tenant asking for verification that we are who we say we are is a big deal. I’d show them my DL, especially since I probably have a copy of theirs already…

Now, the question I’d ask is whether or not the property is actually in your personal name? Mine are in LLCs which can’t be verified by showing a DL.

My accountant and attorney have both told me to keep a logbook of time spent on real estate.  It basically has to be more than 750 hours AND more hours spent than on your other job(s).  Almost impossible to do as a full-time employee because it's hard to work 40+ hours per week on two jobs.

First property - $3k down for a SFR ($210k purchase price) using a VA loan in 2007.

Second property - $15k down for a SFR ($305k purchase price) using FHA loan in 2008.

Third property - $25k down for a SFR ($510k purchase price) using VA loan in 2018.

All the above were purchased as primary residences that were purchased with the plan to turn into investment properties...

Fourth property - 55 unit apartment building in 2019.  $120k in personal funds / almost $2m in investor funds

Fifth property - 33 unit apartment building in 2019. $15k in personal funds / $400k from others 

Sixth property - 80 unit apartment building in 2020. $1.25m from investors

Seventh property - 82 unit apartment building (closing soon). $1.4m from investors.

I won't necessarily say it's good or bad... I will say that you should understand the risks and the potential rewards and make an educated decision.

RISKS

HELOC will use your home as collateral for credit. Because the loan is collateralized, it will generally come with a lower interest rate than other loan programs. Just realize, that if you default on the HELOC, you could lose your house. Biggest question I'd ask is whether or not I could afford the additional payment without relying on income from the investment property.

When looking at a potential investment property, look at best case, most likely, and worst case scenarios and decide what the probability of loss is.  Ask the same question - can you afford to pay the mortgage for a while if vacant?

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Once you understand the risks, look at the potential rewards and the likelihood of hitting those marks.  If there's a significant and highly probable upside with an acceptable level of risk, then go ahead...  

But it's up to you what an acceptable level of risk is... 

I haven't used a HELOC, but I have borrowed against my retirement account funds to purchase primary residences that I turned in to investment properties.

I jumped from SF/residential to multifamily/commercial -- move to the 5+ multifamily where you can get commercial loans and are not subject to the 10-loan cap. 

Other options if you want to stay in the SF market- 

-Purchase properties subject-to existing mortgages, the loan will never be in your name (already mentioned)

-Find a private lender... (lots of people will lend money - rates may not be as nice as bankers' rates)

-Some banks are portfolio lenders and will still write notes based on overall risk profile.

In my opinion, if you can live at a discount, you're coming out on top.  If you'd normally pay $2000 per month for rent/mortgage and house-hacking gets you in at $1500/month, you're able to invest the difference and you win (while you live there).

But as @Nicole Heasley Beitenman said, run the numbers both ways.  If your plan is to temporarily live there, then move out, you need to make sure the numbers work both directions.  My first home purchase in SoCal made sense for us to live there, but didn't quite cash flow once we moved out and put a PM in place.  And when you run the numbers, make sure you're including taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, utilities, management, admin/legal fees, deposit to cap-ex account, etc.

It needs to get opened...  I throw away so much mail that I never open.  Lumpy mail always gets opened... Find something you can include in the mailer that gives the envelope a bit of volume....

Leatherneck... you a Marine?   

S/F!

Leatherneck Enterprises -- not very SEO friendly... but neither is Bigger Pockets and they did just fine.

Website is nice-to-have in my opinion.  There are a lot of wholesalers that operate just fine w/o websites.  It is nice to be able to direct someone to when you do meet someone though and does 

If you're starting a wholesaling business, the most important thing would be networking with buyers and sellers.  If you have a few reputable buyers, you can search specifically for deals that match their criteria making it much more likely that you'll find a buyer for your deals...

Of course, you also need to know what a good deal looks like. Make sure you know how to analyze deals to include renovation costs, ARV, etc.

Great!! Wish you the best.

You should also consider getting a solid PM to add to your team.  @Taylor L. has a ton of connections in Richmond and may be able to assist you on that one.  As he mentioned, he runs a really good meetup.  I'm DC area -- little too far of a hike for me to get to Richmond, but I know several that go and they all speak highly of him and his meetup.