All Forum Posts by: Mark H. Porter

Listen to @Nathan Gesner on this one. I didn't even have an LLC until I got to 22-units and only then because I was getting into commercial buys.

I had the umbrella until then and actually for a few years after.  Heck, I still don’t have business cards and now I do MTNL strips with major chains.

@Bonnie Griffin Kaake I think this was meant for someone else.  I was responding to the original OP with a question and did not have a request.

Charlie - are you looking to gain knowledge or give it?  I’ve been in commercial for 3 years now having 1031’d out of residential.

Hi Michael - I live in North Myrtle Beach now in an area called Barefoot Resort.  25 years ago, one individual, who happened to own a small, 7 shop strip mall on the beach-side of the intercoastal waterway known as Barefoot Shoppes, crossed the waterway to acquire 2600 acres of, well, nothing.

He brought in Dye, Norman, Fazio, and Love to build four golf courses, and we now have 4000 residences between single-family homes, typical 3-level multi-family, and three towers overlooking the waterway.  It’s a great story.

I lived here the first time from ‘86 to ‘89, right at the beginning of the golf “boom” that resulted in dozens of golf courses being built over the next decade of so.

My first property here was a townhouse here in Barefoot in 2015 that I rented long-term. My 2nd and 3rd investments were large properties on Ocean Blvd that I bought using 1031 monies for STR under great local management. All three properties did very well financially.

I’m now retired and in all honesty we could not be happier.  There’s still 80-plus golf courses, I pay $2600 in property taxes on a 4br house with a pool, most people are kind and generous, weather is wonderful (but still lows in the 30’s in February!), restaurants are plentiful, and traffic is comparatively light even in summer.

I’m an investor, not a realtor.  Mike Thompson (above) can steer you in the right direction.

Great post, Hannah.  Since 1997, I’ve used a hybrid 1 and 3.  I buy properties that make pre-tax cash flow sense (after debt service) from day 1.  Without spending a penny I’m happy with what’s left in my pocket at the end of the month.

However, my motto is “everything is for sale”.   I’ve owned buildings for as little as one year and even then it was pushed by me so I’d be in long-term gains.

My point is, and this I know you know, don’t marry a strategy.  Explore others and mix your strategies to reduce the risk of any one being either over regulated or losing its competitive advantage.

This came to me today -

https://realwealth.com/learn/landlord-friendly-states/?fbcli...

At a 70% LTV in the commercial market you're sitting in $1.33M in buying power. Think of this from a risk perspective. I'm sure I'm not stating anything new here.

If none of your restaurants have drive up windows, I would diversify to that side of the business first.  After all, that is your bailiwick. Another pandemic could knock your dreams in the ground.

That being said, having that kind of buying power is a gift.  You have choices that people starting out in this business don’t often have.  You can go down the path of multiple, 4-unit, residential investment properties (max number of units for residential loan terms), or start in multi-tenant net lease small shopping plazas and have tenants pay all expenses including taxes and insurances (my current choice).

I don’t know your locale well enough to state the demographics that support one choice over another, but congratulations on your success.

Ian - I've done the same thing over the last couple of years using 1031 exchanges. I sold my properties up North and now own multi-tenant retail (e.g. Starbucks, planet fitness, restaurants, etc..) strip malls in SC, NC, and VA. I'm now retired in SC and use a commercial broker in the Greenville/Spartenburg area that worked with me on all these deals.

Message me if you want his info or my contact for the 1031 exchanges.

Contact Elliott Rentals. They do my STR and run them as LTR during the off-season. They manage about 1500 units here.

I don’t think that’s what he’s saying.  I think he’s asking why someone would buy when they face both high interest rates AND low cap rates.  Aka .. formula for no cash flow