All Forum Posts by: Lily S.

Welcome to BP in Raleigh @Kory Denny! Given your location, you should definitely make time to start attending the monthly BP meetups right here in Cary! It's a short drive, and normally the 2nd Weds of the month (I think). Dawn in an earlier post had shared the link to it. You'll meet a lot of great people and start making connections there.

Good luck with your endeavors for 2020, sounds like you're well on your way! Which custom builder do you have experience working with?

@Jonathan Carter not sure where you’re based but if doable, you may want to check out and try to attend a monthly meeting for IROs at the TAA. Believe you can attend your first meeting free. Their office is in Raleigh and the meetings are usually over lunch. You may be able to find the right partners there. Good luck!

Agree with @Ian Ippolito 100% based on my experience in fund formation and product development in private alternatives. @Renee Ren before you make any investment via Fundrise or any other crowdfunding marketplace, please carefully review the liquidity mechanisms as described in the offering documents and consult an experienced securities attorney if there is any ambiguity. Closed-end private equity style offerings generally have very different liquidity profile than a private credit fund (or interval funds), where the investor lock-up period is generally longer, with most of the returns being generated at exit (or back-ended). Given the size of the transactions generally offered on crowdfunding sites, there aren’t enough secondary trades large enough to make the economics work systematically (besides the regulatory constraints) for Broker/Dealers to be incentivized to help LPs to redeem their positions via a sale/transfer to a new investor before the end of the investment period. 

Private interval funds generally target 15-20% of their allocation to short term investments or reits so they can satisfy investor redemptions after a shorter lockup (usually 2-3yrs), of course this may create a cash drag on returns if not managed appropriately. But again, read the offering documents carefully as you study the investment opportunities, don’t rely on the marketplace or any random (perhaps uneducated customers google reviews) to do your diligence for you.

Hi Faith, the standard solo 401k is not the same retirement plan product as often discussed on BP and utilized by RE investors. The product that allows for alternatives is checkbook-controlled solo 401k, and its close counsin is self-directed IRA. If these are products you're looking to change into so that you can use the savings to invest in properties and notes etc, you likely won't find too many average financial advisors who are familiar with them.

There are a handful of checkbook controll 401k service providers who can help you set up the trust/open an account, etc. who have actually been around for a number of years, you can easily google the topic and get their names (many of them are very active on BP forums).  Be careful to understand the quality of their customer service!!

Most, if not all, of the brokerage accounts who offer solo 401ks are not equipped to service checkbook controlled accounts, these are traditional solo 401k providers. Just wanted to make sure you knew the difference for your meeting. Depends on your needs, a self-directed IRA or a checkbook control 401k may get you there, but make sure you read up on what their differences are first.

A good person I found super helpful on BP is @Brian Eastman, he's very knowledgeable about both when I did my research earlier this year and isn't a pushy sales person. There's plenty of materials you can read on his company website to get the basics too. Good luck!

Thanks @Paul Moore, hence the blended portfolio.

@Ryan Zwerneman this sounds like an exciting time for you! And there are no wrong ways to start, the reality is that how you organize your priorities really comes down to your personal style, budget, and existing skill set. Some high-level thoughts on how you can think about the laundry list of things, is to set a timeline for yourself between where you are today and your first goal post (be it your first wholesaler property under contract, or your first $1mm profit!) Break that timeline down into key milestones, and then into a practical schedule to commit to your task-lists and keep moving forward. If you haven't already, I would start with flipping through a couple of the basic how-to books published by BP first - you should know who are critical members of a RE team and how they can help you - at the right stage. I.e. it makes no sense to pay legal fees to set up an LLC if you don't need it right away especially for wholesaling. Most wholesalers I've met are only running on business cards, using leads-generating apps, and yard signs by traffic stoplights. Also attend your local RE meetups, find a local mentor and build your peer network - as you go along. Your "business plan" will change one too many times between when you get started and where you end up in RE investing, and that's the beauty of it!

Hi @Taylor L.there are plenty of syndications and sponsors to back based on your particular set of investment criteria. For my goals, I am looking for a diversified portfolio of private, commercial assets that have already been well-vetted by a strong due diligence team with reasonable fees. It’s not efficient use of my time and resources to conduct my own DD on each asset syndication across sectors. I’m not interested in REITs and market volatility. 

@Thomas Crappse raising private capital is typically a chicken or the egg problem - you won't find investors without a great deal, but you also can't get a deal done without certainty of capital commitments to even get it under contract! I'm assuming you're only BRRR-ing a SFH here. If you have found a truly great deal due to your differentiated knowledge of the neighborhood/local RE market (i.e. having a reasonably good ARV estimate), or expertise in rehab, or some other differentiator that will give certainty of execution to the transaction, then it's worth putting your key terms/deal structure down on paper and focus on getting an anchor investor (debt or equity) so you can lock up the deal first. Your local REIA network and BP meet-ups are a great place to start in terms of meeting like-minded folks who often are interested in great off-market deals but don't have the time/resource to source them on their own. Your first pitches won't have much to go off of except establishing your personal credibility/RE knowledge, your hustle and knowledge, sprinkled with a little confidence, will go a long way. Good luck with getting your first deal under the belt!

Any existing investors in the Crowdstreet Blended Portfolio I-IV on the Pro Forum here? What's your experience so far? I'm considering investing in their fifth series and just began to dig into the diligence. Given the short-term track record these blended portfolios have had, wanted to see if anyone has experience as an LP in this product, or frankly, any other Crowdstreet's white-labeled vehicles. I've looked at the 3rd-party offerings on their platform for a while now, but don't have the time/focus to put together my own portfolio at this time. Appreciate any tips/insights!

Any existing investors in the Crowdstreet Blended Portfolio I-IV on the Pro Forum here? What's your experience so far? I'm considering investing in their fifth series and just began to dig into the diligence. Given the short-term track record these blended portfolios have had, wanted to see if anyone has experience as an LP in this product, or frankly, any other Crowdstreet's white-labeled vehicles. I've looked at the 3rd-party offerings on their platform for a while now, but don't have the time/focus to put together my own portfolio at this time. Appreciate any tips/insights!