All Forum Posts by: Michael K Gallagher
Michael K Gallagher has started 24 posts and replied 1232 times.
Post: Recommendation on Property Management company in Columbus Ohio

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
I'm sure with the guys at Reafco you'll have a good list of traditional property managers that will take great care of you...if you are interested in something a little different I've been using an online option called "Hemlane" with a couple of my clients. Its a tech solution to the traditional model and seems pretty promising so far. I'll admit its still early for me but so far its bee fantastic. They have several levels of service, but as a whole its an interesting alternative if it fits your needs.
Post: Suffering from Deal Paralysis for First Investment Property

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
@Anna Marie Holland my first deal was a house hack, the duplex was already flipped prior to us purchasing it so we were able to use an FHA loan. Really made the initial jump very low risk and let us learn as we go from the management side of things. Can't recommend it enough as a first step!
Post: ISO: Project Management Software/Platform

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
Hey @John Ford I actually just recommended Monday.com on a different thread but it fits here as well! I personally love it because it's infinitely flexible, so no matter how your business changes or scales, you can adjust it to fit your needs. They have a ton of templates and training to get you started, and it will integrate across many platforms and apps you are probably already using. it automates communications and alerts based on statuses of projects. And all of the projects are key-word searchable.
For the money, in my opinion its the best all around solution for project and communication management out there. Especially since you can invite vendors and other people to use it with you. They tend to have limited access as guests, but for the most part the just need to link their email's or slack or whatever you are using to communicate so that they can get the alerts on the project statuses.
It really is a great platform, I'd be happy to show you how I've used it in the past if you're at all curious, just shoot me a DM.
Cheers,
Post: data and prospect management

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
I honestly don't know if it will work for what you are trying to do, as I've never personally done a large volume of direct mail..but Monday.com has always been my go to for anything project or flow related. They have a pretty large youtube channel of how to do things, and it's essentially flexible enough to do anything, but that also can be its biggest downfall...too many options some find.
The interface is great and it integrates via API across a ton of platforms.
I would give it a strong consideration not only for the middle piece you are looking at but perhaps an end to end solution.
it works really well as an alert/communication/process flow tool across not only your company but you can have vendors join and submit things there.
I've used it for everything from artwork approval on skincare projects, to an automated center for communications out to clients based on the status of the project in question. Integrates with BOX, Google drive, drop box, all the major cloud storage options as a data room. Everything is searchable and most importantly you can control who has change rights, and who has access to the information.
So like I said, I'm not 100% sure it would work for what you are trying to do, but I'd for sure consider it as an option and see if it would fit your needs.
Post: Thoughts on EXP realty?

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
I took a slightly different route. I found the team lead/rain maker (if you are with KW) that worked with my personality. He is the exact opposite of me personality wise, and therefore his strengths are my weaknesses and I can bring different skillsets to his business to add value to him. He just so happens to be at KW, but honestly I wouldn't give two flying F's if he was at another brokerage. Honestly, the brokerage does not mean anything especially getting started, unless they are a boutique brokerage that specializes in exactly what you are looking to do.
Post: Build to rent and hold.

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
hey @Omasirichukwu Udeinya it would really depend on your idea of "good idea". Building is a whole ballgame of itself, but certainly if the market you are looking at supports with the rental numbers the cost of building, its a strategy that could work really well! I can't remember the podcast episode number, but there was one guest who had a strategy in california that she purchased single family homes, with large lots, with the sole intention of tearing them down, and putting up two spec built duplexes. So if the cost/benefit makes sense to you its certainly a viable strategy! However, building will be more capitol intensive. One of the best parts about investing in existing homes is that they can start making you money right away for very little down, especially if you are buying a multi family and living in one unit.
Post: Finding commercial properties.

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
Hey Raj, Commercial is a bit trickier in that sense. From what I understand Loopnet, would be something similar to zillow for commercial. But to be honest I've heard that if a deal makes it to Loopnet, or even to listing that its been picked over and past over by everyone else that the broker knows. How true that is...I'm not sure, but its certainly somewhere you can go to start analyzing deals and learning the numbers of the area you are interested in.
Commercial is certainly a harder market to break into depending on where you are looking to invest and into what asset class. Its worth taking some time to understand what asset class you are interested in, and then finding a broker/agent that specialized in that asset class in your market of interest. Even with multi family you'll find some people only focus on 100+ units, some only are working with 5-50 units. Some brokers specialize in development, some in leasing, some in tenant rep...the list goes on.
If you are serious about getting into the commercial space you'll want to know what you are interested in, and then approach a broker. Not too many brokers will give you the time of day if you just say "yeah I've got XXX dollars and I'd like to invest in Commercial". Its kind of like saying "yeah I like food, will you shop for some food for me", its just not enough info for them to help you effectively and make sure you have a good experience.
Post: Books on Commercial Real Estate

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
Hey Raj, Welcome to the forums! and to BP! One of the best books to understand the concept as a whole for commercial real estate is "crushing it in apartments and commercial real estate" by Brian Murray. Its fantastic! and really lays out the mindset, and the details that go into looking at, and taking down commercial deals. I'd also encourage you to think about what area of commercial interests you. There are a ton of different options, and each option will take some time to study in order to understand the asset class.
I'm taking an 8 week commercial crash course through a training company called "Nucleus". Its been great so far, the course runs 750$ for the 8 weeks. So if you are looking to really jump in and want to put some money behind it, its a great option on how to become a commercial practitioner. Now this is not required at all, you can find anything you'd need to know here on BP, and on youtube.
Post: Rental market search

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
Hey @Jainer Villafane a couple of thoughts of ways to look at this for yourself, without needing to go and buy some fancy data mining tool or something that a youtube guru is selling. Now I should say this is all just from my own experience doing this a couple years with a hand full of units.
1) take a look at the macro data of the area you are looking at. Look at the population trends in the area, are they going up? going down? You can often look in the public records and compare that to the number of building permits being pulled in recent years. Again if this is trending up or down will tell you a lot about a specific area.
2) Take full advantage of the Pro member perks you have in the "rental estimator" tools. They are fantastic and give a pretty decent view. I find them to be pretty dang accurate for my area. Now the numbers they have in the BP tool tend to be trailing data, so it does not really show the high end of the market that you can stretch for in the rental numbers, but they certainly give you a good idea of some conservative numbers to work with.
3) 5% vacancy is a pretty good number to take into account I find, especially if you are dealing with B-A type units. but this stuff is usually pretty logical. how big of a pool of potential tenants is that specific area, property, etc going to attract? That coupled with the rent pricing, will tell you if you are going to have a harder time placing a tenant or not. For instance, if your unit is a A+ unit in the highest cost of living area in that city/town, your pool of potential renters is going to be smaller and therefore I'd factor in a higher vacancy rate for between tenants.
4) jump on zillow or something similar in that area, in a similar price point and watch it for a couple weeks. pick out a couple units that are similar to yours and see how long they stay active. I'd even suggest reaching out the the land lord or property manager of those units to get their input.
Now keep in mind, most land lords are god awful at marketing and placing/screening tenants, so take what you hear from people you talk to with a grain of salt, and understand they may not be as diligent in their screening as you will be.
If you take a data driven and factual approach, you'll do just fine. Big vacancy red flags I'd watch out for are, low quality of unit, and if the area has a single major industry for employment. I'd also consider if the area/unit you are looking at has the potential to have other income strategies. Is it close to a hospital? university? tourist attraction? If it is, and if you have a hard time placing a long term tenant, then you are able to pivot to a shorter term tenant, or traveling nurse type business model. You may never need to go that way, but its nice to know you have the option if you should so need to implement a different strategy.
As a rule of thumb I'd count on about 4-6 weeks of vacancy in between unit turns...just from my experience. But obviously depending on your market and the demand there that can differ.
Post: CALLING ALL EXPERIENCED INVESTORS!

- Real Estate Agent
- Columbus OH
- Posts 1,255
- Votes 971
Hey @Tucker Mortier congrats on jumping in and looking to purchase your first home! That's the first step! In my opinion the best way to jump in and learn it is to do it, and occupying one unit as a house hack is a brilliant way to gain that experience. Honestly the thing I see most in new buyers/investors is that they tend to get too bogged down in the "what ifs". Not saying that's what is happening but I tend to find that people will always find something wrong with a property or with the idea of buying as long as they have not committed to it.
If you trust your agent, if the numbers make sense to you and you can back it up with data, and the inspection didn't come back saying the entire building is about to collapse, you will be able to figure out the rest! The fact you are on here and connecting with the good people of BP says that in itself.
The one thing I see many different people overlook in purchasing properties with Tenants already in them is that they don't do the homework on the lease agreement, and they don't get an Estoppel agreement. Any decent agent should be able to help you with it, its a fancy word for a simple document that lays out the relationship between the current owner and the current tenants.
If you need help running numbers or bouncing ideas off anyone, feel free to reach out at any time. I'd be more than happy to help anyway I can. If you are still searching for an amazing investor friendly agent in your area, Amy Renae and the team over at Brick and Banister Realty will take care of you. Is in my coaching group, JDC, and she is an absolute rock star. Her and her husband are literally building their next house with their own two hands. They will take care of you!