All Forum Posts by: Evan Polaski

Welcome @Jessie Randolph.  Best of luck building your portfolio.  Assuming you plan to manage your own properties, as you get more, the best advice I can give you is find a great handyman.  Collecting rent and answering the phone is easy, but getting the right handyman, that you trust to fix it right and for the right price can be trickier.  

I look forward to hearing more about your adventures and where the windmill business takes you.

@Robert Collins The doctor says Don't raise your arm.  What @Joe Villeneuve is saying is don't get in that situation.

Ways to raise money in a pinch, bring on an investor (you said you don't want that).  Talk to your lender, but IF there is equity left to borrow against, a traditional lender will take a while to close the mortgage.  Private/hard money lenders, but these will cost a good amount.

I personally keep HELOCs open, so I have access to capital if I need it, but don't have to pay out until I use it.

I believe you were simply throwing out a random example, but if you are undercapitalized on a deal, it is going to cost you a lot more than just the cost of repairs.

@Ryan Lehman, I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do it.  Using your own name will always tie the brand to YOU.  Early on, that can be great as it gives added trust to those you talk with.  They are talking to THE person.  

But long term, using your name could make it harder for you to step back and let others continue to grow your brand, because again, YOU are the brand.

But you can find examples of people that do it both ways and are very successful.  Additionally, branding is not the right reason to delay getting going.  You can easily register a different domain and start transitioning to another route, if you decide to change your mind.

@Ben Mosier do you ever see the hand-written signs that say "handyman special..." with a phone number?  90% of the time those are wholesalers.  Call the number and talk to them, get on their list.  At least in Cincinnati, a lot of the wholesalers are pretty dry right now. 

Another option is to simply start sending out direct mailers.  Your hits on these will be low, but the cost is also fairly low, and if it gets you one or two off market deals, you will be ahead.

How I am reading your post, it sounds like you want to expand beyond just Tipp City/Troy. Am I reading this correctly?

@Ryan Lehman a website is a must to build credibility.  Without a deal history, you can share the knowledge you have through blog posts.  Put a bio up of what experiences you plan on leveraging to be successful, etc.  There are plenty of websites, used to drive capital raising, that do no outline someone's portfolio.

Beyond that, network, network, network.  Get to meetups, or start one.  Talk about what you are seeing, articles you've read, anything to show you someone others can trust.  If you can't bring experience, you can bring knowledge and other connections.

You will have an uphill battle to climb, but it all helps.

What keeps me up at night... do I continue to hold my properties (all cash flow well) or sell and redeploy my capital (LOTS of equity tied up in these properties).

The other items I am not concerned as much about because we do smart renovations to make our properties better than the area, so we demand more rent and have our pick of tenants at those rents.

@Remington Lyman Another option, I have been looking into for my flips are Arlo Go cams.  I am sure there are other options out there, but I have used Arlo cams for a business I used to own, and found them reliable and easy to install.  

It is basically a wireless security camera with a built in LTE connection so you don't have to have wifi to run them.  Not the cheapest, but they go up easily and come down, and you throw them where you need them.  

If you have wifi, that you provide at the properties, you can go with the standard Arlo cam, and there is no monthly fee.

@Shafi Noss, to tag onto what @Erik W. mentioned, Class A is for the "big boys". On the retail real estate side, part of my past life, my company looked for Class A assets when they began raising capital through non-traded REIT formation. They promised a 6% return, paid monthly and no upside on any exit. But, they also became a fee machine.

In multifamily, it is the same idea, your hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, etc. that have more cash than they know what to do with, and need to make more than a money market can provide, without taking on much more risk.

@Mike B. I feel your pain. I have been writing letters to owners for a very similar product in my market, but at this point no one is willing to sell. It can be hard to be patient, but that is the only option we have sometimes. I am curious how you are calculating your ROI? Since ROI does not take into account any factor for time, it is not always the best way to compare deals, but certainly one of many metrics to keep in mind.

Typically, you will see IRR, Multiple, and Cash on Cash used when looking at deals.

As for syndication, there are many, many operators out there, and each has their own investment criteria. As noted, some focus on creating their value and exiting as soon as possible, while some are longer term holds. And, as you may know, there are trade-offs to both when measuring performance. Typically, the longer you hold an asset, the lower the IRR, but the higher the multiple, and vice versa for a short hold period.

At the end of the day, regardless of the path you choose, this is very much a relationship and networking business (hence why we are all on Bigger Pockets).  If you are trying to buy your own deals, it is pounding the pavement with brokers and owners.  If you are looking for something more passive, it is setting up calls with syndicators and finding some whose business plan aligns with your goals.

@Dan Barentine, I agree with @Rick Martin.  For most brokers and investors, time is of the essence.  We have a lot going on and want to be respectful of that.  

I would guess he is trying to get a gauge on the deals you want, and not pester you with deals that won't make sense for you.