All Forum Posts by: Arn Cenedella

@ Mike Dymski

Yes I totally agree there are pros and cons with any approach. That is life. But yes I want to increase cash flow and scale up. 

If I could find a decent building in Greenville under say $2M, I would be happy to buy it and run it actively. 

If you ever decide to sell your quad in N Main, be sure to let me know. 😊

Arn

@ Ivan Barratt

I am open to any passive investment deals you have.

Thanks

Arn

@ Chris Levarek

Happy to consider any passive investment opportunities you have.

Thanks

Arn

@ Ronan Donnelly

Interested to learn about any passive investment opportunities in Phoenix, Mesa, or Tuscon.

Thanks

Arn

@TaylorL - that's good advice on the PM.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any investments that might make sense.

Thank you,

Arn

I have invested in rental properties since 1986. These have mostly been single family houses. And they have done very well for me.

These are not grand slam investments but solid line drive base hits over time. They have provided minimal cash flow but solid appreciation and net asset growth. The equity developed in these rental properties is a significant portion of my net worth. I am set financially at the age of 65.

I currently own 7 rental properties with 13 tenants. I manage these properties myself and I have great tenants who often drop the rent off at my house. More often than not, when I lose a tenant it is because they bought a house. I am happy for them. Sorry to lose them as a tenant but happy they are on the road to success and financial stability. I remember how excited I was to buy my first home in 1980 - $107,500 with a $868.08 mortgage payment. I was scared and excited at the same time.

I have just started to change my investment approach for two reasons:

1. To increase my monthly cash flow

2. To lessen my property management responsibilities

This week I made my first passive income investment is a beautiful 232 unit apartment complex in Charlotte North Carolina.

Giving up control was a big step for me. I have always been a one man operation - doing it all on my own. I mean after all, who could do it better than I? 😊

Giving up control releases me from property management responsibilities and I will more than double cash flow return on my equity investment.

This recent investment is in an apartment syndication also known as a passive investment.

Over the next couple of years, I will sell or exchange my rental properties into these large scale passive investment syndications.

I would be interested to hear from other investors that created a portfolio of single family rentals and small rental properties over a long period of time and how they decided (assuming they did) to transition to passive investment.

What's been good and what's been not so good?

What's your experience been?

@Casey Roman

You could put the cash in a syndication deal.

Or use hard money loans to do a flip.

You are correct about Greenville SC market.

@Greg Hoffman

Your question is a tough one. I got my RE license in 1978 and still have it but I am basically retired but am active as a real estate investor. So I wear both hats - agent and investor.

In my current role as an active real estate investor and landlord, I spend quite a bit of time looking for good investment properties - either fix and flips or long term rental holds. It's work and takes efforts and I use multiple approaches to locate good,properties.

I would like to help you by reframing your guidance "I want a deal not retail" from an agent's perspective and then from an investor's perspective.

Many agents are investors themselves.

Not sure of the price point in your market but by way of illustration.....

Let's assume by "deal", you mean something like 10% below market.

Say an agent finds a "deal" as defined as above.....let's say it's a house priced at $90,000 that's worth a $100,000.

The agent could sell it to you and make 3% of $90,000 or $2,700 in commission.

Or agent could buy house for their own account and have $10,000 instant equity.

If you were the agent, what would you do?

Why would an agent take time to find a "deal" aka a needle in a haystack to make a 3% commission?

Real estate markets are very competitive in good markets that you would want to invest in. It might take a buyer five offers to get one accepted. So multiply my question above by five times the work for the agent.

As investors, we all want to find a deal and on occasion, they can be found - but investors with more experience and capital are looking for them too. Can you pay cash and close in 5 days if a "deal" was to be found? If not, you won't be buying any "deals". Don't mean to be discouraging but expectations must meet reality.

As an 40 year plus investor, my approach is to not chase "deals" but rather pay a fair price a market price for GOOD PROPERTIES IN APPRECIATING LOCATIONS and let time and or Value Add lead to good returns.

I understand other folks have different opinions. But my (successful) approach to RE investing is slow and steady over time. If you do that for 10 to 20 years, you will have success.

Hope this helps to reframe your approach and expectations.

I have just purchased my first quad in Huntsville. It is in Five Points area.

The numbers are not as good as might be projected in 35805 but I just feel 35801 is more solid and less hassle.

I like Huntsville due to large job growth and low property taxes.

I live and invest in Greenville SC. Property taxes in SC for investors are calculated in a way that makes them very high. As best as I can tell property taxes in HSV for the same value property will be about half what they are in Greenville.

I just want to get my feet wet in HSV for now. Check back with me in 5 to 10 years and I will let you know how it all worked out. 😀

At the end of the day, real estate is a long term investment vehicle and needs tis be approached and evaluated in that framework.