All Forum Posts by: Chris Winterhalter

@Jilliene H.

As many have pointed out there are very few 100% passive investments in real estate however I believe private lending can be one of them (depending on the structure). I also think class A - NNN investments can be very passive once you are through due diligence. Most class A product in major gateway cities can be passive when professionally managed. However as you know those deals come with extremely low yields. Generally the more passive the investment the lower the return (but not always). Many equity investments through syndication can be passive if done with the right sponsor/operator.

I am very impressed by your business and the success you have had to date. With that being said I would love to see you around the site more as an active contributor.

@Michael Hoss

Sounds like you stood your ground on pricing which is very important. On to the next deal!

@Blaine Williams

Congratulations on having an interest in real estate at such a young age. So I take it you are already enrolled in a specific University. I would major in finance and accounting along with any entrepreneurship classes offered. If they have real estate classes that would be beneficial as well. You might want to look into taking some architectural classes at an entry level if possible.

But let me take a step back...what do you want to do with your life? Do you want to run a real estate business or be an investor or both? There are many amazing careers outside of real estate which provide the ability to invest in real estate passively or on the side. If you have a specific passion or interest in a specific career you might want to purse the high earning career option and invest in real estate on the side until you can duplicate your high earning potential. Maybe real estate is your passion...if it is then become a sponge of knowledge. Connect with as many deal players in your area as possible and focus on getting the best of the best internships. Make sure you stay active in school and keep your grades at a 4.0 (or as close as you can). From there start setting goals for your future. If one of those is building a real estate company start making that happen while pursing an amazing career in the same industry. Transition over as soon as you can (but not too early). A lot of people see real estate as this sexy and easy path to wealth. Well it isn't always sexy and it's almost never easy. I'm making a lot of assumptions about your post so forgive me if I went in the wrong direction.

Good Luck!

What does the book focus on? I would be curious to pick it up but I'm not sure it's worth $600.00 vs. other commercial real estate text books. @Bryan Hancock can you give a basic run down on what the book focuses on within commercial real estate...is it a basic overview...does it go into deal examples....does it talk about Ray's experience etc. etc.

Maybe @Ray Alcorn can chip in? It looks like his 1 and only post on here was to comment to Bryan on another thread about the book.

@J. Martin

What a beautiful campus and a great place to have a Meetup! My fiancé went there for undergrad and loved it. I might be out that way the week of the 12th. If I come in early I will definitely attend. Thanks J!

@Jasmine Wilkes

Welcome to BP! I've been investing in St Louis for the last 5-6 years. There are a lot of great areas to invest in the city and county however also a lot of bad areas to stay away from. Definitely get educated and network as much as you can with the right people. Good luck!

@Brian W.

So I used Loopnet Platinum for around 6 months before returning to the Premium account. Here is my review of the additional features for the Platinum user.

1. Sales Comps - The sales comp feature is rather worthless...it's no match to pulling straight from CoStar. I really don't need this as I can get the broker to do it for me based on my comp parameters.
2. Owner & Mortgage History - I can still get this information from time to time on my Loopnet Premium account...the information isn't always accurate especially the mortgage information. The mortgage information is never going to be very accurate with commercial (except for the initial loan or refi's) because commercial loans are not reported. Once again I found that I can pull the owner history from the County website and then verify through my broker's CoStar account or my title company.
3. Historical Sale & Lease Listing - This can be somewhat accurate and was an okay feature however due to the system glitch it still comes up from time to time on the Premium account. Overall this information is much more reliable from CoStar which I get from my broker.
4. Tenant History - Doesn't really apply on my end.
5. Market Trends & Analysis - I didn't really explore this feature much however from what I could tell it didn't really have any real value.
6. Unlimited REOs & Pre-foreclosures - The "new" unlisted pre-foreclosure & REO listings that they advertise are a joke. It's only added to this list if someone posts the deal and clicks the checkbox for these two items. I never saw a deal or really anything for that matter listed under this feature. The loopnet customer service people also had really no clue on the additional feature.

It definitely seems like CoStar is just maintaining Loopnet at this point vs. working on growing that side of the business. Overall Loopnet Platinum is NOT worth the money. Save your $50-60/month taking a broker out to lunch. It will be much more beneficial. Loopnet Premium still has value however more so in maintaining relationships with active brokers, keeping your finger on the pulse of the market, and by catching that rare foreclosure property (that gets 50 offers).

I get contacted by so many wholesalers about larger apartment complexes. It's always garbage and the other side almost always has no clue what they are doing. I use to give these people the benefit of the doubt however it's just a waste of time at this point. Talented owners and operators invest countless hours and years networking with the people that have access to these actual deals (especially in the Midwest). Any property of this size with actual value would be picked up so fast by the major players in town (especially right now). Dayton can be a tough city depending on the area. I don't know it like Darrin obviously does however I can tell you that we are not looking at any deals there because of the market.

@Michele Fischer

Networking is so important and I love your BP goal! Constant networking is 1 of the biggest keys to success in my opinion. I like the profile photo as well!

@Will Barnard

Let this be my formal RSVP