All Forum Posts by: Scott Morongell

@Nelson Ogbuagu congrats on taking your first few steps to acquiring a property in the near future. I think your first step is to determine what aspect of RE you want to pursue. You mention multifamily in your post. MF buy and hold is a completely different animal than wholesaling. My advice is to pick the one that you enjoy and in return and over time you will become an expert. The #1 mistake investors make is either chasing the shiny object or going wide instead of deep. If you want to be in multifamily take it deep and surround yourself with people who are doing it successfully. I do believe if your going the MF route out of state is definitely your best best. Pick 1. A state that you have connections in (boots on the ground). 2. Business and landlord friendly 3. Where jobs are going and being created 4. Population growth 5. Buy something with enough scale to have professional mgmt. Managing out of state will set you up for failure especially since you do not have a background in it. 

Continue to progress, educate, and take action but don't be in a rush to buy just "something". Every successful investor has this trait in common. It's discipline. Real estate shouldn't be emotional but factual. Be methodical in your assumptions and stick to your number. 

@Carlos Suarez The sponsor is 99% of the time more important than the deal. Like Brian mentioned, if they are a strong sponsor (operator) they won't be bringing you crap in the first place. That being said, without an education and a good understanding, it will be very hard for you to decipher which operator are good. Spend some time understanding what makes a good deal, how it's underwritten, the story behind the asset, and the team who is running it. Once you learn the numbers and what makes a conservative deal you will be able to find very quickly who is and isn't a strong operator. Look at many many offerings before you jump on one. You need to be comfortable with the sponsor and truly understand the assumptions they have made in their underwriting before investing your hard earned money.To answer the first question on where to find a a solid investment-- there are many operator who write and help out on bigger pockets. There are also dozens more who you will never see on BP or any other social media site. One of the ways to find them is to set a good alert up. For example, "North Carolina multifamily sale or north Carolina apartment sold" you will then get a google alert for anything that trades in that state. Read the article and do some digging on who bought it and you will be able to see if that group/firm syndicates deals. Hopefully this bit of info helps you make your first successful syndication investment. If you have any other questions please reach out. 

 Great, we will be happy to have you attend. Start to check the meetup site as well in early-mid March.

Appreciate your response. Yes, I believe multifamily is a favorable option for where the market is currently at. That being said, proper underwriting and discipline must be present. Operators who leave their rosy red glasses on and underwrite like they did in 2013 will be very sorry when the market shifts and they can no longer meet expected pro forma numbers. 

@Barry Sanders Brian has given you excellent advice. Once you get your units stabilized like he mentions in year 3 you now need to have an assumption in your model on rent growth from here on out in your hold. I would encourage you to not project a lofty rent growth % like we have seen in the past several years. I would see what that market and submarket has done over history and factor in the appropriate %. This will save you from many headaches with investors as to why you didn't underwrite conservatively and now are falling behind in your business plan. 

@Dariaus Baillie congrats on joining BP and elevating your network. You will find many people on here doing exactly what you want to do. Find them and pick their brain. Many people want to help! If you can elaborate on what you want to do in real estate people who come across your thread will be able to offer advice. Is it fix&flip? Buy and hold? Multifamily? Syndication? I will be starting a meetup in Charlotte in March/April with a focus on multifamily syndication. I know it's far from you but if your in Charlotte and want to focus on syndication it will be worth your time to check it out. 

@Dante Pirouz congrats on all over your success over the last 4 years. My opinion is this, stick to what you know and enjoy. This will keep you out of trouble. Many investors out there get a little confidence and try something new and end up losing it all. Why? Because there business model didn't fit past projects or they weren't educated. 

From an investment perspective I think you can find many reason to invest in larger multifamily projects. I'm not so sure I would explore the commercial buildings or strip malls unless it's a shorter term hold. 

@Andrew Neal I went straight to multifamily. Single Family is mental a prerequisite that many fall into. For me, I wanted to start with single family and buy a house a year for a buy and hold strategy for cashflow. The problem was, it's not scalable and i'm stuck being the management company. I didn't want a headache I wanted freedom eventually. With multifamily you get those. So why would I start with something that I don't need and doesn't help me with my end goal? Many do purely because of limiting beliefs. Now by all means I didn't just jump right in and try to buy a large complex right away. I was methodical. Took me over 6 months to find the right coach. Took me another 6+ months to invest passively in an opportunity. Shortly thereafter I took a GP role in a syndication. In 2018 my firm was apart of 650+ units over 3 assets. The first deal was a two property portfolio of 388 units. 

Surround yourself with the right people and get properly educated before taking action and working with other people's money. If your in the business for the right reasons you will be successful. 

 Find someone in your market already doing what it is you want. Find a way to create value to their team. Document your track record and create a credibility book on all transactions you have done. Document the good, bad, and ugly. Be transparent. After you know what your doing and have some credibility behind you start raising capital from friends and family for your flip or whatever your looking to do.

@Evan Smeenge Thanks for sharing. You weren't super specific on what your goal was with the rental property. Fix flip? Buy and hold? Regardless, just because you don't have the money doesn't mean you can't be successful. Find a partner that has money/experience and find a way to add value. Before you know it you will have a track record and "proof of concept". It is at this point investors will want to give you money and trust you enough with it.