All Forum Posts by: Mark Dolfini

Hi Kevin, I'm so happy to hear you do this for yourself.  I realize I am likely going to draw some frowns and eye-rolls for my answer, but I need to be authentic as to who I am and what advice I can offer.  First off, Real Estate is NOT Life.  We work to Live, NOT the other way around.  I appreciate you want to get off the endless hamster wheel of a job, but don't trade one miserable job by creating another.  My approach is always to start with your personal Vision for the future.  What is the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow for you?  What is this all for?  I would challenge you to get VERY specific in terms of what you want for your Life.  We were not put on this planet to do the real estate "hustle."  I invite you to focus on Life Output and not income generation.    

This is coming from a guy that once owned 92 rental units who worked 18 hour days, 7 days a week.  I had no Vision for what I wanted except "more" and my Life was a complete disaster.  I was so time-weary, I nearly lost all of them because I was unfocused.  However, once I got clear on what "I" wanted - once I got clear on my Vision for the future - I was able to create a business with that Vision in mind.    

I now oversee the operation of roughly 250 units, but what is most amazing is that I spend about 2-3 hours a week doing that.  I get to take my sons to and from school every day, and pursue other passions in my Life like writing books and helping others.  When you get absolutely clear in what you want for your Life, THEN you can proceed to create a real estate business that is in alignment with your Vision.  

I would invite you to get absolutely clear of what you want for your LIFE first.  PLEASE don't dismiss this important step.  Then create a real estate business that is in alignment with that Vision.  This will help you stay focused, avoid the distractions that are typical for real estate investors, and get you to where you really want to be.  

Best of luck sir!

While I am not a syndicator, as a real estate coach it's important for me to stay on top of the most relevant tools to help my clients.  The one I've found the most value in so far is The Best Ever Apartment Syndication Book by Joe Fairless and Theo Hicks.  Very granular and worth the time to go through it.  I also have Michael Blank's book, but I haven't read that yet.  

Good luck!

If I might say, HGTV is meant to be entertaining, real life is "considerably" different.  My suggestion is to ask yourself "Why Real Estate?" as your vehicle to get you to your ideal Life as opposed to something else.  Otherwise, this will become just another side-hustle that ends up taking too much bandwidth from your life.  I say this because it seems you're approaching this as just another way to make money.  

Understanding your Vision for the future, your 'why', is critical for the long haul.  It's going to be important for you to have clarity in this if anything goes sideways, and so you won't become distracted by other opportunities that come along.  Get clear on your Vision, you might find out that it has nothing to do with real estate at all, and you can continue to enjoy HGTV without wanting to throw the remote through the screen.  Best of luck!

@Cameron Riley 

I would love to say there is an easy answer to that question, unfortunately there's not.  I really believe you have to first understand the mentors / coaches will serve different purposes for you at different times.  

For me, the best results have always been from someone that I have paid, because honestly, if I was paying that person I was not about to show up unprepared for our sessions nor waste their time.  I've coached too many people for free, giving them really good direction, and they ended up doing zero with it.  I think it's important that you have some skin in the game, just to put that out there.  

I also think it's important that you seek a mentor / coach that understands YOUR Vision for the future.  For example, you might want to get into note investing, but the guy / gal you're working with has only done wholesaling or buy-and-holds.  Everything should be driven by your Vision, including the people you bring into your circle. 

Finally, see what you it is you can expect.  Some of these people are gifted as gurus, meaning they will teach you their system, but do very little in terms of holding you accountable to your activity (or inactivity) towards your Vision for the future.  A coach / mentor serves a different purpose.  Just make sure you know what they are bringing to the table. 

As for where to find these people? Your local REIA often brings in speakers that are there to offer their services. Take your time when hiring one, make sure they understand your Vision, and get a sense if this is a person you can work with while they are there visiting.

I hope this helps.  

As a real estate coach, I think it's important for me to point out that I TOO, have coaches that help me.   I am not in the camp of "Yeah, YOU need a coach, but I don't".  Quite the contrary.  I spend a great deal of money each month for people to help me think through things faster, watch my blind spots, and hold me accountable.  You can self-prescribe information all day long (personally, I read about one book per week) but when it comes to activity, I really think a mentor / coach can get you where you want to go much faster.  I also feel this is especially important in the area of real estate, where it is incredibly easy to get distracted by the latest "shiny object" that happens to cross your path.   

I started to reply and then realized my answer could start down a rabbit hole that I'm not sure would make me sound sober :-) 

I got very good with creative financing deals, where at my peak, I had about $6MM in real estate assets (92 units in total).  That said, some of it was the worst financing in the world.  I'm not saying anything profound when I tell you that a great deal can be quickly ruined by bad financing.  The best type of financing is the kind that works.  Learn about something called a "Loan Constant" (sometimes called a Constant Rate).  Understanding that will be critical to getting the right type of financing for your deals.  

I hope this helps.  

Rob, I think the only person you should get advice from on this is from your Tax Accountant and your Attorney.  Not knowing your long-term strategies or tolerance for risk, I think you have to be careful about anyone giving you specific advice on something so important and so personal to your situation.

That's just my personal opinion.  There's simply too much at stake if you get this wrong...

State laws vary, so it depends on where you're talking about.  In all my research, the landlord must forfeit at least the amount of the Security Deposit (sometimes it's 2 to 3 times the deposit, but again, this depends on the state).  

Do your research, or better yet, ask a local attorney. 

Having been down this road before, about 12 years ago, my answer is a resounding NO!  You buy for cash flow.   Appreciation is nice, but Cash Flow is what keeps you alive.  I have been in deals where cash flow was skinny, but to get into a deal where you know you're going to be upside-down even after repairs just flat doesn't make sense.  I see a lot of people right now chomping at the bit to get into a deal, so much so that they will sacrifice common sense.  I don't know how to say this tactfully except to say it: 

DON'T BE A MOTIVATED BUYER!

Best of Luck...

@Justin F. pretty much summed it up!  :-)