All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Donis

Hey @Elmer Glick. I think $30k is pretty average for quality mentorship programs. I am not part of that program specifically, so I cannot speak on it. I'd just make sure to vet it. A good program should give you direct access to the syndicator. In my opinion, they should be willing to partner with you on the deal and essentially "walk you through" your first deal, at least. I am part of a mentorship program that meets this criteria and is around a similar price point. DM me if you have any questions. 

Hey @Lukas James. My name is Jeffrey. My brothers, Kerwin, and I are also 19 years old. We work alongside our older brother Kenneth, who is 22 years old. We are currently in apartment syndication. It's awesome to see another young person interested in apartment syndication and commercial real estate. Feel free to DM me so we can connect!  

As far as advice, for us, education and networking has been critical to our success. We've met so many people, and we are still learning everyday. We recommend finding someone who is doing the business at the moment, and find a way to bring value. This will likely be helping them raise capital, because you might lack the experience or credibility needed to get a deal. If you know brokers, or don't might cold calling them, then that might be a good long play to find your first deal. But, I recommend focusing on learning the business, and finding passive investors. Passive investors will bring money to the table, and many larger, more established syndication teams will not turn down a young person like yourself willing to learn AND bring value in the form of a pool of investors.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want to hop on a call. 

Hey @Sean Banilivy. David Peters at First Floor Equity does some rehabs on hotels, and I believe he converts them into multifamily housing (I'm not 100% clear on the specifics, but you can find him on LinkedIn). I'm sure he'd love to talk.

Yes! Thank you for this post. KPIs are very important when you are tracking your business and wanting to be intentional with making progress and seeing what is working/what isn't. I was curious, are you calling brokers or apartment owners? It seems like you are doing direct-to-seller, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks!

Yellow Letters is a good option. I've heard good things about GoPrinting. Also, EverestDMM. 

Yes, I'd be open to taking a look if we can get some more info on the property, such as market and unit size. 

Owner financing is when the owner acts like the bank in a real estate transaction. Essentially, the owner of the property agrees to receive payments from the new buyer over a set period of time until a pre-determined purchase price is paid to the original owner in full. The benefits of this to the buyer is that they get "terms," which allows them to pay the purchase price over time rather than all upfront (which requires much more equity upfront). The benefit to the seller is that they might be able to ask for a higher purchase price due to them allowing the buyer to make payments on the property over time. However, as @Erik W. mentioned, the owner would have to wait to receive the full amount agreed upon. This might not be an attractive option to most apartment owners.  

Hello! You came to the right place. I have a few recommendations:

Books

- The Best Ever Apartment Syndication Book by Joe Fairless 

- The Hands-Off Investor by Brian Burke

- The ABCs of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss by Ken McElroy

- Raising Capital for Real Estate by Hunter Thompson

- Multifamily Investors Who Dominate by Beau Berry (more focused on building relationships with brokers, which is critical when it comes to finding syndication deals)

Youtube Channels:

-Michael Blanke

-Joe Fairless - Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever Show

Podcasts: 

-Michael Blanke's podcast 

-The Real Estate Monopoly Podcast with the Donis Brothers

-The Real Estate Syndication Show with Whitney Sewell

Other:

 You can also check out our website for some good resources www.donisinvestmentgroup.com

Hope this helps. 

Welcome to Bigger Pockets @Nick McGregor. Everyone is on their own journey, and the fact that you came on here and made a post is a great step. I've heard many investors say that those who wait on the sidelines end up waiting forever and regretting it. Therefore, be careful not to wait too long, because next thing you'll know, it'll be years down the road and you won't have anything to show for it. Also, savvy investors can make the most of the real estate market regardless of the stage in the cycle we're in. With that being said, seeing as how you are new, I'd advise you to do your due diligence before buying a property. Try writing down all of the properties in your preferred neighborhood that meet your criteria. Then, see if any of them are listed. For the ones that are not, try cold calling the owners. These tend to be mom-and-pop owners who might be open to an offer on their property. This is where I would start! And don't be afraid to hop on a call. The worst they can say is no. Even if they do, ask permission to follow up. THE MONEY IS IN THE FOLLOW UP. Being patient and building a relationship with these people overtime might result in you gaining their trust and they might just want to sell to you sometime down the road. If you're looking for a more "present-day" solution, then yes, consider tweaking your criteria while keeping cash flow in mind. Just some thoughts off the top of my head, hope that helps. 

Hey Edwin! Welcome to BP. As @Landon Bleau mentioned, you can buy a property as soon as you can find the deal and get the financing for it! 

As for your second question, you can either raise the capital from a pool of investors. You can reach out to your personal connections, or try to attract investors by creating a thought leadership platform. This can be in the form of a podcast, a blog, Youtube channel, etc. The point is to lead with value with content, then drive traffic to a website. Once you get someone on your website, you can have them provide their email in exchange for a Call to Action (like a "Top 10 Reasons Why Real Estate is Better than the Stock Market" Pamphlet). Then, you reach out to them, build the relationship (making sure to follow within the SEC guidelines),  and once you find a deal, you can present it to them. 

Or you could find someone who has the capital and bring them value by finding the deal. Then, you could JV with them on the deal. However, you might not get as much equity in the deal if you only brought the deal to the table. If you managed to raise a portion of the equity, you would likely get a larger piece of the pie.