All Forum Posts by: Brock Mogensen

I live and invest in Milwaukee.  Smart Asset Management is who we use. Happy to put you in touch with someone there. 

If you can find a great deal in Portland that outweighs the risk of the crazy laws, then it might be worth it.  If you are looking to syndicate the deal, it might be harder to attract out of state investors into your deal.  If your network of investors is local, they might be okay with it since it is a familiar area. 

Cost Segregation Study.  We have done these on most of our syndicated deals.  Game changer! 

Both great books! What It Takes is a great read.  It's about how Schwarzman built Blackstone. The fundamental books are great, I also like to mix in some motivation books. 

Building a connection with a general real estate attorney AND an SEC attorney is a good idea.  Depending on the structure of your deal, it will change which attorney makes the most sense to use.  Referrals are the best way to find a good attorney.  Talk to your broker, banker, insurance, etc..they will have referrals for a local real estate attorney.  For an SEC attorney you can look nationwide for one of the bigger names in the syndication space. 

I started with house hacking a duplex about 3 years ago. After that I decided I wanted to scale quicker and syndication was the route I was going to take.  I spent 6 months learning everything I could about underwriting syndicated apartment deals.  After that I partnered with two other more experienced operators and we syndicated an 89 unit apartment building (one year after the duplex).  Over the last two years we have syndicated 6 more deals.  I started with no big account balance and was working a $20/hour job.  It is possible, just takes a few years of grinding. 

This is a great subject.  On the GP side it is hard to commit to brining another sponsor on because as you stated, the GP is taking the persons word that they can raise the amount of capital they say they can.  Usually the Operating Agreement needs to be created right away, so waiting a month or so for the capital to be actually raised will cause some problems for legal docs. It really comes down to selling the GP team on why you are confident on raising X amount.  On the flip side, you also need to have a material involvement in the deal for the legal team to be on board with you being a "capital raiser".  Consult with an attorney for specifics but generally they don't like to hear your sole role in the deal is raising capital. 

Very insightful post!  This is a subject that is super important and rarely explained in such detail.  It is a question I often get from investors.

Very nice!  Duplexes are a great way to start.  That is what I started with.  Good cashflow, shows you the fundamentals of a deal, and allows you to scale from there. 

If you are looking to not be "active" in the deal, investing in a syndication in a market you find attractive, is a good option.  Otherwise if you are looking to be active in the deal, you can begin searching for turn key PM companies in your target market.  Investing out of state as an active investor will require more work but will allow you to have all decision authority.