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All Forum Posts by: Shaun Ortiz

Shaun Ortiz has started 17 posts and replied 43 times.

Post: Pieces of advice

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28

Newbie investors, what's one piece of advice you've heard so far that has really resonated with you (or confused you!)

Post: Wheres my Alabama Investors

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28

How do you see the stability of Mobile's established industries influencing your long-term investment strategies, particularly in terms of rental demand and property values?

Post: For All the Gainesville Investors

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28

How does having a major university right here shape the way you buy and manage your properties in Gainesville?

Post: Challenges With REI

Shaun OrtizPosted
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  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28

Greetings Greensboro Investors!

What's the biggest hurdle you've faced (or are currently facing) while investing in Greensboro?

Post: Getting in the real estate scene

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28
Quote from @Jaime Zarate:

I don’t know if anyone could help me with this question but like I wanna be able to get into the real estate scene right now I just don’t have the capital and I don’t really know career paths where you can get into the scene like I really wanna rent out houses to people And I don’t know what job could provide me or give me the experience to do that without owning a house or putting money down on a house if that makes sense does anyone have any career ideas that are related to that? The only one I found was being a property manager, but I don’t even know how to get started in it and they don’t make as much money as I would like, but I don’t know if that’s an issue or not cause I feel like you need some type of money to get started in real estate scene


Hi Jaime,

It's great you're looking to get into real estate! Since you're interested in rentals but don't have immediate capital, consider starting as a bird dog. This role involves finding off-market properties that could be good investments and connecting those leads with investors. The great thing is there's typically no upfront capital required – your focus is purely on identifying potential deals.

As a bird dog, you'll learn the market, build a network with investors, and earn a finder's fee when a deal you sourced closes. It's a fantastic way to get your foot in the door and gain valuable experience in the real estate scene without needing to own property yourself right away. If you have any questions about how bird-dogging works, feel free to send me a private message!

Post: Having a team, a question for all rei investors

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28
Quote from @E.J. McCaffrey:

In addition to adding members to your "team" who can help you find deals, invest money, etc., I highly recommend working closely with both a knowledgeable tax professional and an experienced asset protection attorney to ensure you're maximizing both your protection and tax efficiency, regardless of the type of investing you are doing.

Hi E.J.,

Thank you so much for that valuable insight! You're absolutely right to highlight the critical importance of a knowledgeable tax professional and an experienced asset protection attorney.

It's easy to get focused on the deal-finding and funding aspects of building a team, but ensuring tax efficiency and protecting your assets are foundational to long-term success in real estate investing. Your point is a great reminder that these professionals aren't just for when you're "big" – they're crucial at any stage to set yourself up correctly and avoid costly mistakes down the line.

Thanks again for emphasizing these key team members!

Best regards,

Shaun

Post: Having a team, a question for all rei investors

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28

Hey BP Community,

I'm curious to hear your insights on building a successful real estate investment team. For those of you who have scaled your businesses, who would you consider the absolute essential members to have on board early on, even when capital might be tight?

Conversely, which team members or roles are more strategic hires that you brought on later, once you had more capital and a more established portfolio?

I'm interested in understanding the ideal progression of team building as you grow as an investor. Any advice or experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your wisdom.

Best,

Shaun

Quote from @Rodney Lorenzo:

When I acquired a 6 unit property in Hartford, CT in 2022, the neighborhood appeared as just working class. Soon after, the neighborhood went from class C to class F. I stuck with the same PM, owned by Tom Kopchick, because they knew the building and neighborhood quite well. Unfortunately, things went South really fast. I thought, let me evict the non-paying tenants and replace them with paying ones. Well this was like pulling teeth. Units were not flipped because the PM blamed it on the bad neighborhood and said that govt programs were the way to go if I wanted a consistent rent roll. He never told me that it would take several months to get funds from these entities. I ended up with 4 empty units and 2 paying tenants, then only 1 paying tenant. I still paid the mortgage on time, but was a struggle at times borrowing money from friends and family just to do so. A veteran was finally put in one of the units (the one paying tenant), however, the PM failed to tell him to open his own electricity acct and after 6 months, ended up with over $2000 of charges under my LLC. When I went by the building one day, they refused to let me into another vacant unit because they said once a govt program takes over while they find a tenant, I as the owner cannot have access to it. This unit ended up costing my LLC over $1800 in electricity charges when it was supposed to be vacant. The electricity shot up to over 3000 kw over the winter prompting me to think they had a grow house in there or a squatter the PM was collecting rent from himself.

In a neighborhood like this, you need a very competent PM. Instead, I ended up with the worst and most incompetent in the state, if not the whole country. They never got back to me on anything. It was, "yeah I'll take care of it" and I'd never hear from them again. Some of the problems were not taken care of at all. Homeless people were shacking up in the basement and breaking windows on the ground level trying to get inside one of the units. The PM had a manager who stuck her "friend" in one of the units prior to my acquisition and because they had a fall out, she stopped paying rent so I got no revenue from that unit for 7 months. The PM was horrible at trying to evict her and she finally abandoned the place, costing me over $9000 in lost revenue. When I attempted to replace them with another PM, Tom begged me to keep him on. Like an idiot and a firm believer that everybody deserves a second chance, I proceeded to continue on with them. Huge mistake. Things got much worse. He deliberately used a plow to destroy my driveway when there was snow, prompting my insurance company to come after me. In the two estimates I got to repave the driveway which were around $7000, Tom wanted 15K for it. It seemed to me that things were broken so they can make money off of the repairs. A PM could easily get away with this. There was a leak in the skylight above the inside hallway and they implied that I needed to redo the entire roof because of that one leak. That would've cost me over 20K. 

In trying to get another PM to come on board which none would touch with a 10 foot pole and my hemorrhaging money left and right, I decided to put it on the market. Tom the PM got upset because he wanted to sell it for me, but I told him that if he was inept as a PM, what made him think he would be great at selling my building? All reviews of this PM on the internet are all horrible. Goes to show you that before you contemplate hiring a PM, ALWAYS check their reviews first. Most lie through their teeth. Additionally, he never charged me a "percentage" of the rent roll as stated in the agreement. It was always a flat fee of over $600 whether I had 4 tenants or 1. With the appreciation, I didn't lose as much money as I thought, but had I held onto it, I would've gone bankrupt and had the building go into foreclosure, all because of their incompetence. Again, I tried my best to find another PM, but there were no takers. It's PMs like these that ruin the reputation for the others. I truly believe that they can steal from under you and get away with it. Even the REIA in CT was of no help. An entity that supposedly "helps" investors, but said nothing on how to avoid bad PMs. Besides them, I contacted the AG of CT, the mayor and an attorney to see about suing them. I got no help whatsoever. The state literally has enablers that allow rogue PMs to get away with a lot and I'm sure this is like this across the country. The Dept of Consumer Protection was a joke and was of no help either. Everyone assumes landlords have bottomless pockets so they don't really care about them. I sought advice on Biggerpockets, only to get berated and spoken condescendingly by other investors. It's as if I was supposed to have a crystal ball and why didn't I do this or that. Were they successful on their FIRST INVESTMENT? Crickets. It was more like "look at me, everything I touch turns to gold". Yeah right. Now, I'm focused on fixing and flipping. An endeavor I look forward to, as I refuse to get discouraged in my real estate journey.


 Hi Rodney,

I'm truly sorry to hear about the incredibly difficult experience you had with your 6-unit property in Hartford. Your story is a stark reminder of the potential pitfalls of property management and the importance of thorough due diligence.

It sounds like you were dealing with a nightmare scenario, and it's understandable that you feel frustrated with the lack of support from local authorities and even some members of the BiggerPockets community.

I can only imagine the stress and financial strain you endured. It's commendable that you're choosing to move forward with fix-and-flips, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Thank you for sharing your story. It serves as a valuable cautionary tale for other investors.

Best regards,

Shaun

Post: Insurance Provider Recommendations

Shaun OrtizPosted
  • Remote
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 28
Quote from @Paul Novak:

BP Community,

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on insurance providers. It’s been years since I got quotes on changing insurance providers and I thought it might be time to shop around. The last time I shopped around I didn’t have any rental properties. While I am not that big, I still have auto, a primary residence, and 5 additional rental properties. Our insurance costs are currently at $6,838.54 annually. Recently Scott Trench talked about how much he saved by quoting everything out on a BP Money episode. I was wondering if anyone had some local recommendations? Obviously, making sure you are covered is important but if I could lower costs by 10% plus while keeping the same coverage it might be worth making a move.


 Hi Paul,

I understand wanting to shop around for better insurance rates, especially with your growing portfolio.

Instead of navigating the complexities of different policies yourself, I'd highly recommend working with an independent insurance broker. They can shop multiple providers for you, saving you time and ensuring you get the right coverage for your auto, primary residence, and rental properties.

To find one, you can search "independent insurance brokers [your location]" or "real estate investor insurance brokers." You can also ask for referrals from local real estate investor groups or here on BiggerPockets.

They can help you find the best rates while ensuring you're properly covered.

Best of luck!

Shaun

Quote from @Timothy Smith:

Hi @Shaun Ortiz and welcome to the Buffalo corner of the BP community. I've taken note of some of your recent posts, and they are all very general questions about investing in Buffalo. It appears to me that you are casting a very wide net, and it may be more beneficial to "drill down" on your questions and relate them directly to your strategy. I have found that the broader the questions are, the less responsive people tend to be, and if they do respond, they are rather broad responses. 

IMHO, your best approach would be to share your goals and investment strategy, then find folks who align with that and can guide you. I'm assuming you don't live in the Buffalo area since your posting headline says "remote" alongside it, but I don't know that for sure. For all we know, you could be looking to invest $5M cash in an apartment complex, or perhaps you are needing to leverage OPM into a small fix'n'flip opportunity. Without more context, it is really hard to give constructive feedback. 

That all being said, there are several of us local Buffalo folks who could certainly point you in the right direction. Some are investors, some are agents, some are PM's, and some are a combination of those things. As for myself, I am a seasoned investor specializing in small multifamily value-add with the (occasional flip mixed in) that came to be an agent out of necessity for my business and the expanded opportunity to help others. Some folks on here stick to turnkey, others are flippers, and so on. 

Hopefully this is helpful feedback, and you appreciate the response. There is a lot of opportunity in Buffalo, but also a tremendous risk if you are not properly informed. 

Thank you for your candid and thoughtful feedback. I appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective.

You're absolutely right; my questions have been quite broad. I apologize for that. To clarify, my primary goal isn't to directly invest in Buffalo at this time. I'm actually a bird dog, focused on building a national network of real estate professionals, including investors, agents, and property managers.

My intention with the general questions was to gain a better understanding of the Buffalo market and connect with individuals like yourself who have local expertise. I believe that building these relationships is crucial for my business, as I aim to connect investors with off-market opportunities across various states.

I understand the importance of providing context, and I appreciate your advice to "drill down" on my questions. I'll definitely keep that in mind moving forward.

I'm particularly interested in connecting with seasoned investors like yourself, especially those specializing in multifamily value-add. I believe that understanding your specific needs and preferences will help me better serve my clients.

Thank you again for your insights. I look forward to connecting with you and other Buffalo professionals.