All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Orr

@Owen Dashner I think if there is good communication between you and your partner I think it really doesn't matter who answers the calls.  I think a whoever is available would be efficient if both you and your partner are equal and working in tandem with each other.  If you have different responsibilities then it may be a different story.

For example, my father and I have a development business together and work as equals in the business.  We both receive calls from our respective networks but is easily interchangeable because the people we work with and introduce ourselves to explain to others that by speaking with one of us, in essence you speak with both of us.  It is then up to us to keep an open line of communication with each other to keep one another updated.

However, if it is something that worries you I would recommend NOT to get a voice answering service.  I find that if I call someone that has a service like that, it is not as personal and it bothers me that someone I am devoting time and energy to calling or working with can't answer their own phone and I see that it can delay things and a opportunity could be gone by then.  I would instead trade off days or weeks when one person answers.  I do think you are on the right track to have one phone number.  

Good Luck! and congrats on the venture

@Wes Blackwell The key difference between a hospitality (usually general commercial) zoning and Multi family is under a hotel there is the TOT or "Bed" Tax which is the only tax in real estate (and I think may be the only tax in general) that 100% of the tax goes directly to the municipality it is located in.  It is not shared with the state or federal government.  It goes solely to the city the hotel is located in, which is why good cities welcome hotels, because

@Ryan Swan the brand I am working with is a extended stay hotel.  Except it focuses on long term stays (20-60 days) which is not something the other extended stay brands focus on (their demographic is 7-14 days)

In regards to students, that is just one small aspect to focus on.  I would say those that follow students is the bigger picture (staff, speakers, parents, etc...)  the brand has in house marketing team that targets people like that and whoever else is in the area.  With this being a long term extended stay model they can also branch out into other cities that may have more businesses that have a lot of people fly in for training or work of that nature.

I will say the difference between the AirBnB vs hotel argument for this brand is the same for the other extended stay brands.  First off, most working professionals that are given a travel budget want consistency which is why there still no major movement of professionals going to Air BnB.  Additionally, from the brands research in regards to students, AirBnB stays average 3-7 days.  Which is not the market the brand is targeting.

Hope that explains it a bit more.

@Sean Olsen are you talking along the lines of getting a hard money loan that puts down money for the purchase of the home and the rehab costs?

If so, every lender I know of states that you cannot live in the residence.  The only think I could think of is to purchase the home with a traditional lender to make it your primary residence then go look for a construction loan after you have already purchased it.  

Good luck!

@Wes Blackwell the hotel type is extended stay and revolves around long term stays that are similar to multifamily yet has its own unique traits that causes it to fall more under hotel zoning. Nothing like a resort style, it is a limited service type hotel and our research for site qualification is more focused on surrounding businesses and professional clients (or students/people related to the university that stay for extended periods of time)

Hey BP

I am working with a hotel group in developing several hotels across the United States.  We were discussing areas to focus in and we both agreed the Phoenix area is one part of the country to dig into more.  

I wanted to know from people that know the Phoenix area well, what are the hot areas that people are moving to and where businesses are growing?

Keep in mind, this is not for Residential.  Our focus is commercial hospitality.  We are looking at Tempe very hard because of the University.  Anywhere else maybe to focus on where we can get things to pencil and are growing areas?

Thanks.

Originally posted by @Ben C.:

Originally posted by @Jonathan Orr:

I can see that. Personally I have not experienced that but could see that.

One thing I do know flippers do is use a LLC and then gets a Dba for it so it doesn't necessarily have the llc and all of that.

Do you work with single family properties? Please explain further your previous point. Thanks. 

I have done several single family home acquisition for a couple of investors I was consulting for. We went the route of creating individual entities for each property they acquired because they were flipping them and wanted to protect each asset individually. We did not get a DBA for the entities, instead we just used whatever the entity name was when we purchased it. However I will say I did not hide the fact that we were intending on flipping the property. I think the honesty was the best choice because we explained to them how we came up with our offer price and really helped them through the selling process.

However, like I mentioned I know other investors who use a DBA (a ficticous business name). you get that through your local municipality after you create you LLC or Corporation. They use something basic like their last name and then maybe the city it is in or something like that so it doesn't includ 'LLC' or 'Development' etc...

Another thought I have is you can always get it under contract with your name personally and just make sure in the contract you can assign it. Then when you are under contract for the purchase just assign it to a LLC or entity.

Hope that helps.  However to answer your original question if it hurts your chances.  I don't think so, I think if you are honest with a seller and explain to them how you get a price or something like that it can ease their feelings, but to each their own and some people may not like it, but that is why I would make sure communication is open. Regardless if it goes to a company or a family of 4, everyones dollar is still the same value.

I can see that. Personally I have not experienced that but could see that. One thing I do know flippers do is use a LLC and then gets a Dba for it so it doesn’t necessarily have the llc and all of that.

I think it is really up to you. I think that regardless of where you hang your license and how big of a city you are in you will have opportunities and can truly be limitless in your potential. I think it all depends on how hard you want to work. Also just because you are in one particular city doesn’t me you can’t expand outward. I think it is difficult but I know agents that live a good hour away from listings, but dedicated time and energy to learning that area and making an effort to get listings there. Think of where you would be happy to live and I will agree that looking at the market to see if it is sustainable is a aspect to consider. But if you are just starting out maybe starting in an area you know already and growing from there is a good game plan. Just because you hang your license with one guy doesn’t mean you can’t move when you feel you have outgrown the area. I will give out a warning in populated areas. If you are not deeply connected with a dense community like where I live in LA you can get lost in the crowd. There are so many agents and it is difficult to find a niche or even one smaller neighborhood to specialize in. I know agents that literally have a 5 block neighborhood and they focus on that just because there are so many agents in the area.

Hello, I am a commercial real estate developer and have recently done some consultation work for some other investors/developers. I really enjoyed the consulting and want to pursue that avenue as another business. Wondering if there are other mentors/consultants that have built a consulting business in real estate that are open to talking and letting me pick their brain?

I was speaking with a friend who is a fellow Real Estate agent (young guy that is hungry to grow) and we were discussing my side of the industry (Real Estate Development and consulting).  He asked me if he could connect me with a client he has who wants to get into real estate investing.  Of course this immediately set off the thought of a way to expand my consulting business and wanted to know if other agents/brokers get the everyday man or woman coming to them looking to be taught one thing or another in regards to real estate?

Being a licensed agent myself and being involved in transactions, I know a buyer or seller wants a agent/broker to do everything under the sun and expects them to know every event and how to handle things before it even comes up.  I was wondering if other agents feel the same that they are expected to teach their clients when you either are not well informed or don't feel it is part of the job description.

Cheers!