All Forum Posts by: Rome Wells

Looking forwards to attend this meeting, count me in.  I figured since this is possibly the most closely relevant meetups... I figured i'd ask this question... I was hoping that maybe some folks in this group can take a look at this property before the meetup http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/174-W-Lincoln-Ave-Mount-Vernon-NY/11757946/ 

I am having difficulties making heads and tails of this property... On paper looks good, broker doesn't respond... financial freedom with this property seems like right around the corner... Yet.. there is abandoned building next to it... Any ideas anyone?  Good Bad Impossible to tell... first impression... ?

Feel free to analyze it and then maybe during the meet up meeting if anyone has any advice about it... can help me out in figuring out whether or not it's a good deal or bad deal... from appreciation stnadpoint and from well... providing that this group focuses on Metropolitan area... of NY... any other standpoint...

I figured if i mention this property before the meetup ... maybe some folks can shed some light... 

The scoop of the deal is... well... owner is a lawyer.. retiring... building seems like not too much hassle... tenant is living in there area is well i would say C+ but transitioning rapidly into I would between C+ and C as you keep driving East...

Appreciation vs Yonkers... minimum... easier to evict though... tenants... overall expenses look a bit realistic.. yet the rule of thumb says otherwise... however... given the circumstance that this is 8 unit building, perhaps rules of thumbs can be relaxed a bit... since it's not 20 unit or anything in that nature...

Rents have some upside potential... by the look and feel in comparison to any other houses.. that I have seen in Yonkers... and New Rochelle.. and based on my initial drive by... looks like this property is a keeper... however... i am still a bit concerned... of abandoned building next to it... as described in my previous post....

I figured meeting in Manhattan with other like minded folks and crunching the numbers or sharing suggestions with one another... maybe somehow will help all of us to connect. Note this will be my 2nd meeting in Manhattan. 

I do not know what to expect from this meetup (other than of course talking to like minded folks and learning from other folks and exchanging ideas/recommendations/suggestions/strategies and beyond).

I am not sure if it's going to be a formal or informal meeting or Podium type of meeting where one person speaks and other listens... or it will be sort of free for all type of atmosphere where folks are simply interacting with one another and discussing their journey towards financial freedom... still a bit not sure what to expect... but count me in...   

My last meeting... that I attended it was truly awesome, i was surprised to find other people with similar mindsets. 

Hi, my name is Rome and i wanted to express thank you ahead of me writing anything further for your upcoming reply... and ask current multi family landlords in Westchester County NY, Fairfield County CT or Bergen County NJ for advice.

You see.. here is the scoop... I am new in commercial real estate.... I dived into it 2 months and 7 days ago....  I just realized that I should have done so earlier, but unfortunately I only later at my age I have realized that I need to become multi family investor/landlord.

I am looking for authentic  advice from current multi family landlords who happen to be living in Westchester County area in Yonkers, or Mount Vernon NY or other areas of Westchester County or maybe even Fairfield County CT... 

You see.. I spent my time analyzing deals, looking at LoopNet, documenting my journey in the world of real estate on my personal blog... and one day was able to actually find a property... that is an 8 unit property in Mount Vernon NY....

However, upon analyzing the property I realized that.. broker is not returning my call...  My question is... how on earth do I get brokers to contact me or take me seriously?  When I call them I tell them the truth that yes I am looking for multi family buildings in commercial real estate in Mount Vernon area or Yonkers or Stamford, or Norwalk CT or maybe even Bergen county NJ... but in return i get no call back from the broker... 

The question that I have is... how do you overcome this conundrum?  How do you actually find landlords who are willing to sell their property... if the broker is not responding?   Should I just give up and continue in the world of financial freedom doing other things that are less hassle?  Or should i somehow initiate direct contact with current landlords to see if i can buy their properties direct... at the fair market value, helping current landlord who is willing to sell their property bypass broker fee and get more money for their property.... 

What should I do here folks?  Upon me diving into other groups... the thought of even mentioning bypassing the broker.... had the repercussion where I was almost crucified for even mentioning this.... in the group... (mostly by brokers... )  while being cheered by investors....   

So theoretically speaking if I can pull investors and bring them together and syndicate a profitable deal that is great for investors who have a hard time shelling out money into stocks but feel a lot more comfortable with commercial real estate if i was to show them the math behind the deals ad show them the details of investment that is a lot easier to analyze and see vs let's say than a typical stock... 

Can in that case the process of bypassing the broker somehow be simplified?  You see.. I realize that brokers have list of buyers etc... and can find buyers easier... but there is still that fee... the fee that is just huge... for the first time deal syndicator... like me... and if it's huge for me it is huge equally for the landlord themselves...    What if i was able to provide better price for a building to an existing landlord... who is trying to sell their multi family unit in Westchester County/ Bergen county or Fairfield County ...simply because I would be working direct.... then is this something do you think typical landlord in NJ, NY, CT be interested in?

So once again... i am not asking.... if anyone is interested in selling your building... I am simply asking... if i was able to pull other investors... and obtain money....  would there be any landlord in this area of Westchester, Fairfield, Berget, be interested in working directly with a similar caliber of syndicator..., so this way you can get paid more money for your building... due to the fact that the brokerage fee will be bypassed....  or do you think most landlords wouldn't do this directly... simply because... broker will convince landlords that it's better to go through the broker vs direct... so they can give you better price by pulling other buyers...?

I am trying to figure out the reality here....  Also I realize that when selling your building especially close towards your retirement that you will be hit with major tax... what if i was able to assist in reducing this tax... by purchasing your building and getting financing from you and paying you back over longer time period... to reduce baloon payment hit... and maximize your return on investment... vs just paying huge tax....   and what if i was able to pull the type of investors.. who would be interested in working with me to fund the syndication...  

Then would you be possibly be interested in selling your building?   You see... so far... I have seen many folks teach these strategies... across many youtube channels etc... such as you know.. being able to do so.... and being able to reach out direct.... to owners/landlords... but i am trying to see whether it's actually true... and how common is it really?

Note... i am not asking to buy anything... from anyone... I am simply trying to figure out... whether I am doomed into doing things through brokers who may barely ever respond... or if i can jump outside of the box... and do something that would benefit both the owner of the multi family building and my investors... (including me)...

Note... as of now as I am writing this post... I am a newbie.. 2 months 8 days in the journey of the commercial real estate of multi family buildings... Hence don't shoot me down if i say something illogical... however, if you do... i won't take it offensive... since I am simply trying to learn and properly trying to understand my capabilities.

Also once again this request is mostly to already existing multi family building owners...  however if you are not a multi family building owner in Westchester County, Bergen, or Fairfield county... then you can still provide your advice... i will take whatever advice that I can get.... however..........  i am trying to see whether dealing direct with property owners is actually possible and realistic within this particular area... 

If it's not possible then maybe I can dig in other areas... To provide the best value for my investors by thinking strategically and asking this question ahead of time........

Also... if you are a multi family land lord... and need advice specifically in HVAC or... let's say drywall or roofing or anything in that nature or CPA or law or math,IoT, engineering, marketing, app or web development  etc..... 

Then I can come down directly to your location and provide my consulting advice...  Note.. I am not a CPA... I am not a lawyer... I am not a real estate broker... I am simply the guy who dives into multiple fields extracts lots of information across many fields and helps folks stay educated... while simultaneously progressing myself towards financial freedom... and progressing multi family owners towards financial freedom.

Note... I also run a blog that I have created............ where I show my newbie journey focusing around multi family commercial real estate investment/ownership and literally explain in my facebook blog what actions I have taken... (where this very same post is in fact one of my actions take... and I will describe responses I hear from you verbally in the video or in text in my blog.... covering the journey of Rome Wells in commercial real estate journey)

Note.. also.. one more thing... landlords who are residing in these counties that i mentioned...who want to make extra income in addition to gaining money in a multi family field then I can help you out as well doing so... that is providing you good in teaching...  and have passion to teach other folks a particular skill that you are good at...  (it doesn't matter what that skill is... math... science... real estate.. English... computer science, plumbing.. hvac... playing piano you name it...  )

After all relying only on income from multi family investment perhaps is not enough........ but supplementing with teaching... especially if you like doing it... can perhaps be enough....  so that is where i come in... the guy who is not a broker, not a cpa, not a lawyer... but rather simply put it... the guy who is seeking advice in the world of commercial real estate multi family investment...   while also helping you in the process....

Hence if you have any advice in regards to above ... question... hit me up... either in private or directly in here...  note i am not trying to sell anything... or buy anything.. i am simply seeking for advice from wonderful landlords in Westchester/Fairfield/Bergen County area.

If i see anyone respond... I will have my passion kicking in to passionately continue searching for other investors who are interested in working with me and with whomever landlord who decided to one day sell their multi family building in Westchester County, Fairfield or Bergen counties.... 

Note how i am being specific about the counties?  Technically I have 2 more counties... that I am interested which is Manhattan and New Haven, but I think Manhattan county is just way too high and cap rates are way too low for my investors to consider it... so I don't even mention it...

Also note currently i have no investors... 0 zilch nada... only me... and the passion... and well maybe possibly another 1... however, knowing my capabilities of what to expect from this area..... can help me dive quicker into commercial real estate world and take faster/strategical actions...

Hopefully i didn't bore you guys with my long essay here.. I am simply trying to do what makes sense.. that's all.  

Yes it's actually separate building  Jared.  Here is the link on the Loopnet.  

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/174-W-Lincoln-Ave-Mount-Vernon-NY/11757946/  

This is the deal I am analyzing... Looks like Broker hasn't called me yet... i think he is either busy or sick... I tried calling him to schedule the meeting no luck.

However, I did drive by the area.. the property looks good, but there is this abandoned building concern... Also does anyone know about appreciation in Mont Vernon... ?  or this particular area in general?

Note... this is for now the best property that I have seen... so far.. out of all the properties in Westchester County... however.. there is this uncertainty factor... and well the factor of broker not calling me back... maybe the building is already sold and I was just not notified... well there can be that factor as well.. (or maybe broker felt that I was a newbie... and bailed there is that possibly also...although his secretary picks up the phone and telling me he will call right back... I wanted to actually schedule the visit... to see inside of the property )  

If anyone can take a look at the link i provided and let me know what you feel.. Also hopefully I can hear feedback from you Jared... thank you fyi for responding... ah cool you are out of Yonkers...

I know in Yonkers appreciation is supposedly better than in Mount Vernon... but not sure if you have any insights on Mount Vernon area... 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated... Note.. any other person would not share the property that they are hunting for.. but I am sharing it... because I believe in the good faith and wisdom of people and desire to help.

Thank you for advice ahead ahead of the time... 

Welcome to Bigger Pockets mate.  I am also beginner just like you looking for multi family buildings... to buy... but I stay away from any 2 families or 3...  and shooting directly upwards for 8 units or more... My advice skip single family or duplexes or anything near the water... I quickly pulled out google map and noticed this area is next to the ocean........... in my opinion it's a risky area............ I would stay away from areas that are risky... (note this is my 10 seconds opinion after looking at the map... note.. do not take it forgranted.. i maybe wrong... since I am personally not familiar with this area, but rule of thumb... is... typically the first impression is right... think of Hurricanes....)

In regards to figuring out which property has good appreciation and all that jazz... just hit up loopnet analyze bunch of listings and you will get the gist of it... or feel free to check out my blog.. to see how newbie like me navigates the waters within the first 2 months and 8 days in the journey of commercial real estate...  

Also watch out for any folks on here who provide advice...... do your own research.... but connect with like minded individuals... Also in regards to 401k and IRAs and mutual funds and all that Jazz.. yes it's complicated......... but to be honest... not really (well sort of... when it comes to tax codes, law etc), took me about 2 months 8 days to figure it out...  (sort of... maybe.... still digging....)

I document my journey as I continue learning more about commercial real estate world of multi family investment/ownership so feel free to check out my site.  It's a very cool site... very informative... plus i reveal lots of secrets. and tricks and tips.

Whatever you do .... do not just think that you need to invest in your own backyard (also I personally sort of would invest into my own backyard... else just too risky when diving into it brand new... but if opportunity realizes that is better... jump on it...)..  however don't limit yourself...   

Also watch out for any brokers, most of them won't even talk to newbies... i learned the lesson myself (heck i describe it in my real life documentary)...   However, being honest is the key.. and forming relationships and being persistent is the key, even if some brokers won't talk to you.

Oh if you want to check out my site hit me up for the link... I don't want to show link here... else it will look like I am promoting myself... when in reality... i am just sharing my knowledge free of charge.

hope my advice helps

Very interesting post indeed....  I am still a bit split brain... about the process for how to buy multi family home with the trust fund...... without jeopardizing your own personal finances... 

Please read my post about roofing... what happened with the person who bought a property on her own name vs LLC and EIN id... and when roof went out... watch her contemplate about whether or not.... to contact insurance company to fix the roof....

Where the outcome and the lesson learned as part of this post is the simple fact that no matter what the circumstance is... you must buy the property with the LLC and EIN id... and regardless what lenders tell you... continue searching for lenders who will be willing to land you money to your LLC and not your personal name (holding you liable or opened to variety types of conundrums that makes it yes easy for you to buy on your name but causes you 1000 times more trouble... 

long term vs doing this through LLC and self direct IRA with checkbook control... (note there are many tax repercussions, where no body seem to know anything...  if you ask anyone individually... which is why making post on this Bigger Pockets group is the right step... for sure... so multiple folks can provide answers...... however it's tough... to provide answers without understanding your own question... or without not knowing what you don't know )

Read my latest response to one of the members today (about roofing conundrum).. see her situation with the roof, click on my name and view my posts.. you will see my response... Remember don't get side tracked by lenders ... In regards to track record... i am a newbie too just like you... yet that doesn't stop me in learning more about commercial real estate and investing into further education and get that track record.  

Heck if interested to see how I develop that track record, and see how you can do the same  see my real life documentary journey where I am documenting my journey in commercial real estate world of multi family investment and show every decision and action that I make in my blog and showing exactly how... I come to any of my decisions and what type of conundrums I am running into...

Remember just like @Mark Elkins mentioned... just because someone doesn't know... something... doesn't mean it doesn't exist....

Heck i describe my story of searching for IRAs and doing research on that... in my blog... for how to invest with IRAs into commercial real estate... and found so many conundrums with every answer seem conflicting... pulling me in multiple directions (only to hear the actual Trustees or Self Direct IRA companies themselves not being able to provide any sort of advice.... ) ... but at the end... i still do it.. I still proceed... i still take action...

Opening up IRA, transferring money from IRA to custodian LLC type of IRA and using the time in between to invest into mutual funds/stock (making the money work for you..) Note it took me only about 2 months and 8 days to figure out how to do it all ( and still not knowing it all).

The biggest downfall you can experience is being paralyzed in analyzing deals or analyzing information in too much detail.... 

Oh in regards to my journey feel free to check out my site to see... how i help folks discover how to raise money... doing things either yourself or by networking with other folks and show how I do it across both physical and virtual worlds... 

Very interesting discussion about the roof. Note... there is one other alternative that you can do.... but not everyone can pull of alternatives like this..........

You can do the roofing yourself, just rent a ladder from home depot, and get a handy man helper...  watch tons of youtube videos for how to change portion of the roof, the rotted portion... and not the entire roof....

There is entire art behind repairing the roof... literally... in all practical sense....  Some of the top consultants in roofing cause $400 per hour something that you can easily learn yourself and realize and assess the damage... 

In regards to insurance question... if you bought house on your own name....... and want to leverage insurance.......... you would need to re-qualify property under LLC... you will need a good lawyer for that. Hence... lesson learned... always buy investment property on your own LLC with EIN id.

Now.. i am not an expert in the world of real estate......... but I just watched tons of youtube videos about different trades and that's how I learned majority of them in less than to be honest... 2 months and 7 days... including the roofing... but not too much about the roofing....  mostly HVAC.. (because i am not going to pay contractor 20k to replace my central air... i'd rather do it myself)  or do basic renovation in dry walling, etc... all that you can do your self and save money doing so.

Then if you get stock or unsure of something get your self not a contractor, but a contractor roofing tutor... someone who can teach you about roofing...  Note.. world of roofing is boring........... but when trouble happens it sucks..........  :(

I must say i learned a lot from this post to be honest...  but really i wouldn't spend 6k on adding some shingles...   Adding extra shingles is a hack job... (but then again it depends on the damage).

It does sound like you have a rotted OSB/plywood etc... and in this case you need to gut it out.. and replace it... then repatch.............   Note.. due to the circumstance that indeed good roofers do not want to do anything unless you change entire roof... but frankly speaking this is overkill..

In fact i observed similar overkill in other professions.. in electrical, hvac you name it...... all through the back of my warm sit...simply by watching tons of youtube videos and courses...

The real danger in investing into commercial real estate or any other real estate is not knowing inner details of the trades.........    Since it eats up your profits.......   (however if i was you I would get the roofing done asap, don't wait, it won't solve itself... ) 

Note.. paying to someone else... yes less dangerous...... but doing things yourself is just soo much more rewarding (plus feels good unless you have bad back sort of like me).  However, if it's too difficult... definitely get a pro (multiple quotes).. however first u just have to watch bunch of youtube videos to really understand the roofing side of the business to be able to understand how serious is the damage...

This will not only help you save money by being able to assess the problem yourself and clearly understand who is telling you the truth vs who is not, but will also place you in the prime position of being able to analyze future commercial real estate properties... or any other properties for that matter....

Note in regards to re-classifying your property from your own social security personal account to LLC... really it will result in tax consequences, and legal reclassification consequences... best thing to do is just either do it yourself and forget about any insurance... to avoid hike in your own personal property, and save money on... any cpas or lawyers.... 

Note i am not a lawyer neither a CPA neither am I a roofer but rather a newbie in commercial real estate world who is documenting my own journey in multi family commercial real estate world and also live in CT just like your property... hence i figured i'd help with my response... 

In case if you are interested in checking out my real time documented journey that i started in commercial real estate world in Jan 1st 2018 and learn the trade skills from me in combination with commercial real estate and other cool tricks, tips and strategies.. then feel free to visit my site.  I won't show site here unless someone asks for it and truly interested...

However hope my advice helps.  

Also.. can someone from Bigger Pockets wonderful folks in here please help her and answer this question from tax and law standpoint... any lawyers or CPAs here?

It looks like she asked this question, but I haven't seen concrete response :) Please help her guys/gals

"I purchased this property in my name and have a conventional loan on the property, is it safe to transfer into an LLC even though there's still a mortgage in my name? I wouldn't want the bank to call the mortgage due. Also even though the property is in my personal name is it possible to get insurance in LLC to cover the property or that illegal?

Indeed very good advice coming from many wonderful folks in here.  I started in Jan 1st 2018 in this interesting journey, and all I have experienced so far is... nothing but good vibe... from people (with of course some exceptions), but to really be able to convince brokers... you really need to team up together with others.... else brokers for sure will not get back to you... 

I discovered that in my 2 months and 6 day journey so far :)  Indeed they do not want to take a chance, plus for sure some are not really specialized... in for example multi-family housing.

Indeed I understand where they are coming from too, heck if I was Broker I would be the same... but... what i learned is that.......simply talking to people about your intent is very powerful.  I am creating a documentary, in my own blog showing how I handle my newbie journey towards financial freedom...

I do not want to spam here with the link to my page, so instead, I will simply mention that, I am documenting how my brain thinks... as the starter, so maybe some folks who are also starting out... and trying to get closer to financial freedom within 3 to 5 years in the world of commercial real estate... possibly can somehow relate... :)

I have no idea... if people will relate or not... or should I say I wasn't really sure... myself when i first started this journey to see if anyone would even bother joining my facebook group to see what is happening in the brain of a starter individual, to see the tips, tricks and secrets the starter just like you uses to get closer towards financial freedom. 

In my journey that i started in Jan 1 st 2018... towards financial freedom, i document multiple actions I take and analyze the process of investment and raising money.  My blog may seem a bit corny, but if interested in checking it out, hit me up and I will send you the link.   

To be honest I had only maybe 12 followers... when I first started... now i have about 16 :)    12 of which were actually somehow my friends or people I knew... and the other 4... well... just some other typical folks in similar spectrum who are trying to dive into the world of the commercial real estate...

What I found quite surprising is that a lot of folks are actually interested in my story... Note right now it's technically 4 people (yes for me 4 people is a huge number from nothing... :)  Doesn't seem that much... for 2 months and 6 days track record...  and most certainly not something to be proud of... (but yet somehow I am still proud of it and want to teach folks how they can do the same, but obviously have more than 4... through the power of consistency)

However, I just wanted to share my proud moment of having these 4 followers with you guys in Bigger Pocket, so maybe by just pure luck or perhaps by your very own curiosity you get to check it out to see what I think about commercial real estate world of investment and why on earth am I doing this... 

Note... I literally describe inner details in my blog of every action in real time....  I must warn you ... the blog is not for everyone for example... brokers maybe alienated from it.. because... after all why would they want to see the progress of some newbie who knows possibly the tire kicker and waists time... right?

Yet.. the reality of it all... some brokers will still follow (how do I know? because sooner or later I will work with one... and they want to see that you are serious and not just one hit wonder)

The point I am trying to make is... begin building both virtual and physical network... and start diving into other peoples mindset... will carry you through the passion and begin helping you discover the true reality of retiring early...

Note i am not the best person to listen to since I don't have 100 units property or anything like that... but what you will learn in my blog may perhaps be entertaining and perhaps just maybe make you feel less like you are a lone ranger diving into this journey, while also help you discover how you can create similar virtual/physical network...  all in parallel to doing all sorts of actions that are relevant to your financial freedom goal for getting out of rat's race within 3 to 5 years... or simply retiring earlier.

If interested in my journey blog.. to see how you can use similar tactics that I use... in your journey... feel free to send me a request for the link... and I will share it with you and I promise you.. it will motivate you like never before.. however, key is to watch it from start to finish my entire journey... 

Note as of now i have 16 followers, perhaps you can already get a lot more followers than me... but remember quantity is not what matters here... but quality of your followers... and desire to dive into something similar by tuning into similar spectrum... even if that spectrum is from an outsider a newbie (potential tire kicker)...    

Yet the reality of it all.... what may seem logical to one person may seem illogical to another... what you must do is make your journey logical for yourself.... while pivoting the mindset of others, in the direction of being helpful and helping yourself and they will follow...

Sorry for a long post, but that's just how I am... I write a lot and for some folks indeed it may seem overwhelming to read... but the reality of it all is that's just how i am :)

Hi folks, I am relatively new in this forum, but trying to make the heads and tails of one particular deal in Westchester County.

The deal is 8 unit multi-family house, however... there appear to be abandoned building next to it, I am not entirely sure what that means... I have an idea of what that means but, it's hard to tell...  whether or not it's even abandoned at all or just looks like someone is simply trying to finish construction.

The neighboring possibly abandoned building is very close to the building that I am considering to purchase...  I am aware that there may be a downside.... to purchasing building... like that, but the cap rate is decent and the property math number wise appear to be somewhat normal. 

I can't find anything wrong with the building.  Yet at the same time, the building that is for sale... comes with hassle-free factor...to some degree.   The building is about 1.1 mil... seller offers to finance.  Appreciation of the city where the property is located seems to be somewhat ok...  However... I am trying to wrap my mind about the financing.  

Are there any local lenders in Westchester County who I can speak with numbers?  To see if I can qualify for the conventional loan in a combination of owner financing?

Also are there any other members on Bigger Pocket who faced a similar situation with the abandoned building next to the multifamily property.....  any advice from any wonderful folks in this forum?  

Thank you

Rome Wells

To be honest local networking meetings are the way to go... I am also doing a bit of online... marketing... 

I think it boils down to your communication skills and just being a nice person in general and they will reach out to you.  However, yes to speed up the process local networking is the way to go beyond just online.  

Online... is a long and tedious process :) but if done consistently can be a great supplementary way of getting other folks to notice you and wanting to work with you...

You just have to be honest, and even if you are a tire kicker and the newbie, as long as you present your journey showing who you are and where you are coming from and why you are thinking the way you are thinking then folks will learn to trust you, believe you and connect with you, which may or may not of course result in you get the right agent in your local area.

Remember what may seem tire kicking to some, and means business as usual.... to you it's the entire life savings... type of decision...  

Very interesting info Mario.   So I guess the strategy is simple... get the 8 unit building... add some upside potential and kick the tenants out who are paying low rents and replace them with the ones who are willing to pay higher rent.

I noticed tenants changed in rent roll.   I am also in the process of diving into the multi-family world of investment/ownership, quite an interesting journey indeed.   

Many folks now days want to dive into multi-family, but I guess the ones who have connections are the ones who actually pull the trigger and get their first property.