All Forum Posts by: Eleena de Lisser

Multifamily Borrowers Beating a Path to Banks

Apr 22, 2014 - CRE News

Bankers appear to be of two minds when it comes to the hot multifamily market. Many are lending aggressively while demand is strong, while some say they are starting to back off a little because of the intense competition for business.

Multifamily construction has remained strong in major markets across the country, according to bankers discussing their first quarter performance, including such major markets as New York, the Mid-Atlantic, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco.

Bankers across other regions of the country also reported loan demand growth as well. After not seeing its commercial real estate loan total grow in more than four years, Regions Financial Corp., a bank holding company in Birmingham, AL, said its CRE portfolio grew in the first quarter this year by $242 million, with 40% of that growth attributed to multifamily originations. And it expects to continue that growth throughout the year.

Full article: Multifamily Borrowers Beating a Path to Banks

This is interesting - a kind of "heat map" showing where most of the construction activity is taking place in Philly, broken down by neighborhoods:

Construction Permits in Philly

Article explaining it here: Mapping Gentrification in Philly by Tracking Building Permits

@Chris Hill Direct mail can be very powerful and more effective than email when it reaches the right audience. As Daniel said, CoreLogic owns Listsource. Whether or not you want to sign up for the monthly subscription will obviously depend on your marketing budget and business strategy. Like you said, you might want to wait and see how your first direct mail campaign performs before subscribing to a monthly service.

I would be curious to hear how your list performs. Please update the Bigger Pockets community once you see results. Good luck!

@Cappy Jones Congrats, Cappy! Tell us more about the duplex you bought at auction. What was it that made you decide to finally pull the trigger and buy this time?

Look forward to hearing more about your real estate investing journey here on Bigger Pockets. If you have a blog, please post the link. Thanks!

Gotta love this. The power of social media. NYC real estate agent scores $13 million deal on WeChat

From The Wall Street Journal:

Last month, Yue (Emma) Hao, a New York-based agent at real-estate brokerage Douglas Elliman, received an unsolicited message on WeChat from a Chinese entrepreneur who wanted to know more about a residential building in Manhattan associated with the crystal brand Baccarat. Ms. Hao, who is from Beijing, realized the person was talking about the Baccarat Residences, a 50-story glass condo tower under construction across from New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The building, which is expected to open later this year, will have 61 units priced from about $3 million to about $60 million.

Ms. Hao left a message with the person on WeChat, telling her she’d inquire. After visiting the Baccarat’s sales center, she sent the Chinese entrepreneur, whom she declined to name, pictures of what the condos would look like and the neighborhood’s amenities. The next day, after speaking with the woman by phone, Ms. Hao hammered out the deal: a $10.25 million three-bedroom apartment on the 39th floor and a one-bedroom unit on the 21st floor for about $3 million.

Ms. Hao also set up a WeChat group between herself, the buyer and attorneys to help navigate the purchasing process in the U.S., which Ms. Hao says is very different from buying a home in China. “Nobody can see who is in my group and it’s confidential,” Ms. Hao says of being able to send documents back and forth on the social app.

Ms. Hao has been using WeChat for the past two years and estimates she’s completed seven deals via the app. Though the Baccarat deal is by far her biggest WeChat transaction, she often posts new listings and pictures from open houses on her timeline and leaves voice messages for prospective buyers. “No matter how clients first contacted me, we almost always end up using WeChat at some point,” she says.

Do you call yourself a real estate investor or a real estate entrepreneur? If you consider yourself both, do you prefer using one term over the other?

I'm just curious about what BP members call themselves on their business cards and/or what they say when they meet new people who may or may not know a thing about real estate. (In other words, people who have no idea what a wholesaler is or a note buyer, etc.)

You mean "fair market value." Read this Real Estate Comps and this What is Market Value?

Hey Andrew! Welcome to the BP forum!

Beautiful fix and flip at 18 Hudson. What did you acquire the property for, if you don't mind my asking?

Professional looking, well organized, clean (not cluttered) interface on your company website. Easy to navigate and quickly find relevant info. Very nicely done!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets, Christy! Look forward to hearing more about your real estate success in this forum.

@Dan MacDonald Are you looking for a company to both create the newsletter content and handle the email distribution? Or a company just to handle the automated email outreach of content that you will provide?

If you will provide the content and just need a company to handle the automated emails, AWeber is one possibility. Constant Contact is another.