All Forum Posts by: John Casmon

@Phillip James What exactly are you hoping to get out of a mentor? I'm a big fan of mentors, but you should be clear on what you hope to gain from a mentor before pursuing one. Financing is fairly easy to figure out, but there are multiple approaches for single-family and multifamily investing.

@Yosef Lee

You don’t have to wait, but be honest with your audience on where you are with your journey. Don’t pretend to be more experienced than you are and people will appreciate watching you start out, do your first deal and progressing from there. It will be relatable to share that perspective.

@Sippy Hira What size deal are you targeting? When going out of market focus on finding a great team. As far as resources, I have a list that I use. Send me a PM if you want me to send it to you.

@Michael Svoboda We just left Chicago and moved to Cincy, but target Indy as a multifamily market. I have some data and info you may be interested in.

Know your investors. If they are first-time multifamily investors, keep the structure simple. If they are more experienced, ask them the structure of the last deal they did and what they liked about it. In general, don't overcomplicate it, find what works for the masses and remove unnecessary complexities.

Businesses should be separate, but if the content is not a business (meaning it does not generate income), then you do not need a separate entity for a pure content platform. However, if you have paid sponsors for your content, you'll want to separate the entity. 

@Mitchell Conyers Any update here?

@Kameron Holloway I'm a huge advocate of picking the right markets to invest, but nothing beats the right team. For the size of the deal you are seeking, you need a strong, trusted team. Find that first.

Of the markets you mentioned, the only that concerns me at a high level is Seattle due to the tenant-friendly regulations and high prices. 

JAX is a great market that we're invested in. Salt Lake is seeing phenomenal growth with strong fundamentals. Phoenix is seeing strong rent growth.  

It's a great chance to connect with other investors in a fun, festive environment. I look forward to seeing everyone there, but please make sure you get your tickets on the Eventbrite link! 

There are many great events but choosing the best depends on what your goals are for attending. I've been to the Best Ever Conference each year and highly recommend it (I also have a discount code if anyone wants it). Prices have gone up this year, but the caliber of people there will rise along with it.

I host the Midwest Real Estate Networking Summit and our next event is May 16 and 17. This is not exclusive to multifamily, but we do have a large multifamily audience and network of speakers. This is geared towards Midwest investors.

Jake and @Gino Barbaro do a great event. I have not been able to attend personally, but have heard great things from many others.

@Todd Dexheimer just hosted his Northstar event to strong reviews.

Adam A. Adams has informative events throughout the year with a great list of speakers.  

I have not been to Michael Blank's event, but have heard there is great networking available. 

Then there are more commercial/industry events like NMHC and IMN, which are great for connecting with brokers and institutional players. 

@Renee Ren

Good options. If you decide to bump up Cincinnati, let me know and I can give you my run down. It’s a top 5 market for yield and is seeing growth, unlike most other top yield markets.

If you are considering turnkey, make sure you understand who the operators are and spend plenty of time getting to know them and their processes. Many make the bulk of their money the minute you buy, not from managing the property so it’s harder to find a good turnkey provider. If you plan to manage or hire a PM, spend time betting team members and getting strong boots on the ground. Get your list down to 2-3 and then tour each market to get a sense of neighborhoods.

My friend @Brie Schmidt shares a great story of how she landed on Milwaukee. She connected with multiple agents and told them how much she wanted to invest and asked them where she should look.