All Forum Posts by: Eleena de Lisser

@Kristi Burmeister what is your time worth? I see from your Bigger Pockets' bio that you are a full-time litigation attorney. Do you really have time to be a property manager of 100 units?

Unless you crave the first-hand experience, you should look for a professional firm to manage your properties. Maybe you could get some good referrals to property management firms through the following sources:

Missouri Apartment Association

Heartland Apartments Association

Apartment Association of Kansas City

Good luck!

I agree with @Rick Hernandez. I don't see this question as a rude one. But I guess it may depend on the context of the conversation and who's asking the question. 

If it was a tenant asking the question, yes, that might require a cleverly evasive answer. But if it was another real estate investor I was getting acquainted with, or someone who I was talking to about investing in a deal, I would expect them to ask this question, and I would share this info. 

It's about credibility. People want to know whether or not you have any authority or expertise in real estate, so one quick way of judging that is to simply ask "How many properties do you currently own?" 

Folks can agree or disagree about whether or not number of properties owned is the best measurement of expertise, but it becomes a way for the questioner to quickly decide whether or not you have any credibility when talking about real estate investing. 

@Brian Adams Congrats on your success! Fantastic, instructive post, as always! 

@Rico S. Your recent experience with a real estate investing group mirrors my own. When I was first getting interested in multifamily a few years ago, I attended a one-day workshop on raising private money. During lunch, I struck up a conversation with a few people sitting at the same table. I remember their roles clearly: a wholesaler, a landlady who owned two houses, a real estate agent, and a guy who did fix and flips. I told them I wanted to buy a 24-unit apartment building that I had my eye on. Their reaction was across the board negative: "Why do you want to do that?" "Do you currently own a property that large?" "You need to work your way up to that level. Buy a duplex first. Then a triplex. Then a quad. Then maybe in a few years you'll be ready to own a 24-unit."

I listened to what they all had to say, but didn't respond any further.  I hate it when people put limits on my growth. Then, during dessert, a different guy joined our table. "So, what's your story?" he asked. I told him I wanted to buy a 24-unit apartment building. "Why so small?" he asked me.

I said the same exact thing to two different sets of people and gotten polar opposite responses. The first group could only see and believe in what they had already experienced firsthand. The same was true for the second guy. Turns out he was a multifamily investor. 

The point is that a lot of people fear (or put down) what they don't understand. Lack of knowledge, lack of experience, and not knowing other successful multifamily investors are a few of the reasons why some people cringe at multifamily. My advice to you? Upgrade your network. Don't hang around with real estate investors who don't believe something can't be done just because they've never done it.

"All advice is autobiographical." - Austin Kleon

"Did you run the comps?"

A comp is short for "comparable." In other words, a comparative analysis of a list of similar properties close to the subject property you're looking to purchase and their sale prices. Proper comps are a critical part of making sure your offer on a property is appropriate. It’s how you find the sweet spot—a fair price that makes the buyer happy, the seller happy, and ensures the process moves quickly.

When it comes to real estate investing, checking the comparable sales of other properties is standard operating procedure before making an offer. But do you know how to evaluate the right data? Zillow and Trulia are not the answer.

In this instructive Meetup, Ian Walsh from Hard Money Bankers (HMB) will reveal his time-tested method for accurate comps. He'll share with us his four-step process for analyzing real estate deals, how to look at comps from a lender's perspective, and how to evaluate a deal without ever visiting the property in person.

Whether you're an individual looking to do some private lending, or a real estate investor seeking financing, this meeting will be an invaluable opportunity for you to pick the brain of a hard money lender who analyzes real estate deals for a living. Find out how he goes about evaluating the stream of opportunities that flow his way to ensure that he's investing his firm's money in the right deals.

Ian has been in the real estate investment business since 2008. Initially starting as an owner of WeBuyHomes2Fix.com, Ian learned how to analyze and evaluate residential investment properties by wholesaling properties. During the stretch of wholesaling, Ian started a company called Atlas Property Management as well as partnered in Hard Money Bankers. Atlas Property Management was sold in 2015 and Hard Money Bankers LLC is currently the primary focus of Ian's day-to-day activity. He specializes in underwriting and evaluating residential investment properties. With offices in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Hard Money Bankers offers loans on real estate projects nationwide.

"Lending is a passion, and being creative to make the loan work for the borrower is always exciting. It does not matter if it is a construction and acquisition loan, a construction loan or a refinance, I always try to find a way to make it work," Ian says.

Admission is $15, CASH ONLY. (Pay Eleena, the event organizer, at the restaurant.)

Date of Event: 07/12/2016 at 06:00PM
Location: London Grill, 2301 Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19130

We have a private dining room reserved with a limited number of seats. Only RSVP if you definitely will attend. Thank you!

@Sean McFadden Go for it! It's fine to use the title "Real Estate Investor" on your business card so people can remember who you are and what you're about. If people ask you what you've already invested in, tell them what you're looking to invest in. Establish some criteria of what you're looking for. That way you turn your answer to their question into part of your own marketing. Good luck!

Welcome to the BP community @Alex Benazet! Tons of resources and expertise in this forum. There's also an extremely active investor community in Philly for all types of real estate (multifamily, single family, wholesaling, fix and flip, notes, etc.). Do a search on Meetup.com and you'll find multiple options for local REIA (real estate investor association) events. There are even some investor subgroups that specialize in specific neighborhoods in Philly. Good luck!

Just a reminder that a few of us are meeting this evening in Philly to talk about apartment investing. Details above. All are welcome!

@Kelly Moffat how much credit card debt do you have? If you got a second job and stopped taking on new debt, could you completely eliminate your credit card debt in a year? Two years? Three years?

You said that you are young. Three years, in the grand scheme of things, isn't a long time and you wouldn't be at a disadvantage if you took two to three years to get your financial house in order before you started investing in real estate. In fact, you would have an advantage because you wouldn't have that weight on your shoulders and your investment decisions would be made in a situation where you weren't financially stressed.

Having too much credit card debt is like driving a car with the parking brake on. You're going to have trouble accelerating and fulfilling your financial dreams as long as you've got that burden. I don't think a person needs to be 100% debt free before they can start investing, but they definitely shouldn't be in a situation where they're robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak, to do it. 

@Grant Ed, welcome to the Bigger Pockets community! I second @Gary Harris' suggestion to join a Meetup or local REIA. Great way to meet other investors in your area. Would love to hear more about your multifamily experience. Please tell us more.