Real Estate Life Podcast

Today I’m presenting a very special episode of The Real Estate Life podcast. This time I traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to have a conversation with Zipporah Hodge, the Regional Director for Sundance Property Management, and who is in charge of one of our properties there.

We had a very candid interview with her, where she gave us a glimpse into what it’s like to manage this type of property, the challenges she and her team face on a daily basis, and what really happens behind the scenes.

As a special guest in this podcast, we also have Israeli architect, investor, and partner of mine Doron RIce, pushing the conversation forward with a diversity of questions around the COVID crisis, owner involvement, and much more.

Please check it out in the link below, and don’t forget to send me your impressions, opinions, and questions.

Bullet points

(01:40) What happens behind the scenes in a multifamily complex

(02:21) Introducing Zipporah Hodge and Doron Rice

(03:55) The challenges of the Ohio property and what needed to be addressed

(05:26) What does a property manager handle by themself?

(08:15) How much owner involvement should there be?

(10:09) Dealing with an unstable property

(11:16) Some piece of advice: Do some self-management first

(11:48) How to hire the right maintenance and office teams

(14:45) Dealing with complaints

(16:48) Some advice for owners: How to choose a property and a management company

(21:13) Leveraging your relationship with your management company

(23:30) Repairing vs fixing

“You need to know the difference between two types of investors: there are accredited investors and there are sophisticated investors. Those are the ones allowed in a multifamily syndication”

I’d like to give you a short explanation of the characteristics and requirements of a person who is interested in becoming a multifamily investor.

There are a few things you need to know to join this world of multifamily investing. It is a little different from residential real estate.  Multifamily syndication is becoming a big trend lately, thanks largely to its appeal to people interested in passive investment.  If you want to preserve and create wealth with less involvement and effort, multifamily investment is a great way to achieve that.

Find out everything you need to know up next.

Welcome to The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we welcome Jalal Abuimweis, better known as The King Of Miami Real Estate. Jalal is a full-time real estate investor and an active wholesaler. After just three years of getting into real estate, at 28 years-old Jalal already has 51 doors under management.

In today's episode Jalal will share with us the story of how he became The King Of Real Estate, from moving from Jordan to America, to living in his car, working for Grant Cardone and failing the real estate exam seven times. All this and much more, up next.

Bullet points

(01:40) Introducing Jalal Abuimweis

(02:46) Jalal’s background: Moving to America from Amman, Jordan

(05:40) America is full of opportunities

(07:34) Abiel’s story: From Cuba to America

(09:34) Leaving the car business and meeting Grant Cardone

(14:50) Going to Miami and landing a job with Grant Cardone

(18:35) Getting fired and going into real estate

(22:15) Taking the real estate course and failing the state exam

(28:54) Becoming The King Of Real Estate

(35:00) To make it into real estate you have to go all-in

(36:58) The importance of looking put together

(38:16) Multifamilies

(39:43) The story behind the 38-unit deal

(45:19) Improving the units

(46:47) Coming up with creative strategies

(51:20) Miami Movers 3 on October 23rd with Elena Cardone and other speakers

“I picked up a high-interest rate of 9% for that deal; I put 20% down on a $75,000 property - which is not much - my return after renting that property was actually quite high and after 6 months,  after I had it stabilized, I decided to refinance and got to keep it for four years.”

Getting started on any new endeavor is never easy! Much more if you are investing money, and you are risking any losses. That is one of the main roadblocks for people interested in multifamily investing.

In order to illustrate how a successful multifamily acquisition can be done, I created a this new episode detailing my first multifamily deal.

Welcome to The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we have Pauldine France, Vice President of Strategic Investments at FIP Commercial. Pauldine specializes in streamlining the process of retail, hospitality brands and multifamilies in the US market via South Florida, Miami. She is a licenced agent who focuses on property repositioning, tenants outreach, site selection and pre-development planning in the specialties of multifamilies, hotel industry and land leasing.

Pauldine started NeoHabitus Consult, a real estate consultancy focused on developing and executing cost-effective plans for companies who want to invest in Florida. Today we will discuss the upcoming trends in Miami and why you should listen to the locals before investing in a new area. All this and much more, up next.

Bullet points

(02:05) Introducing Pauldine France

(02:40) Getting into real estate

(06:29) Starting a new venture during Covid: NeoHabitus, investing in South Florida

(12:48) What do I need to have before contacting NeoHabitus: Having a clear identity and knowing your budget

(16:10) Anticipating trends in Miami: Opa-locka

(21:23) Advice for investors on their perspective

(24:04) Why you should listen to the locals

(25:54) Where to find out more

(27:20) What does financial freedom mean to you?

I want my son to learn the difference between what he needs to have, and what he wants to have, now that he is still very young. I don't want to kill his dreams if he wants to have a very expensive car one day, jewelry, and designer clothes but he needs to know that he doesn’t need that. Even though you feel the pressure of impressing people in society. I think that is a hard lesson for people to learn.

Welcome to The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we welcome Isael Prieto with Stratwell. They have over USD 1 billion in state sales since 2010, averaging over 3,000 transactions a year. They work closely with mortgage servicers, asset managers and traditional sales and buyers.

With everybody wondering if we are in a bubble, in today’s episode we will be discussing the current state of the market. We will talk about why inventory is low right now and the relationship between inflation and deciding whether to rent or buy. Plus, Isael will share his advice on how to find a good deal for people looking to buy a property. All this and much more, up next.

Bullet points

(01:52) Introducing Isael Prieto

(03:10) Getting into Real Estate

(04:52) The current state of the market: Are we in a bubble?

(09:57) Studying different markets

(11:11) Why there is low inventory

(13:40) Renting, buying and inflation

(17:17) Advice for buyers: How to find good deals

(21:24) Mortgage extension: Is it going to affect the market in a negative way?

(25:10) Where to find out more

"While the economy has been swiftly recovering from the Covid 19 pandemic, the U.S. will need 8 million more jobs to reach pre-pandemic levels."

The economy keeps on giving us surprises and is still behaving in unexpected ways. So today I’d like to take a look at some of the most recent trends in economic activity and try to understand how this will affect the multifamily industry in the coming months.

Find out more, up next...

Every so often a good real estate opportunity comes up. When this happens, I have to double or triple check it, to make sure it is real. If you are a real estate investor and you are constantly trying to get a great deal, you know it is not that easy.

There is a trend I am seeing recently in distressed multifamily business and I think it’s still early to catch it.

History has taught us that trends that are caught early will give BIG rewards.

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is most folks will never have access to any of these “distressed” properties.

In fact, it took me many years to get access to properties like these.

The big players are too distracted going after large assets, and smaller players cannot get access to lenders to fund distressed assets.

We could go years without seeing anything like this happening again, but in a matter of months, it will start to happen.

Much more, up next!

Welcome The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In today’s episode we welcome Richard Barthelemy, full-time multifamily investor. After getting into real estate in 2015, Richard found a very interesting and fruitful business model, especially in today's market where finding inventory is a challenge. Besides being a multifamily investor and flipping houses, Richard sources deals for me as well as for other investors. Today we will be discussing what you need to consider if you are thinking of becoming a full-time real estate investor, including how much money you should save up before quitting your 9-5 job. We will also touch on how to find deals on the market, and why it's all about doing volume and following up. Finally, we will talk about what you want to know before creating a relationship with someone to source deals for you. All this and much more, up next. 

Bullet points 

(01:37) - Introducing Richard Barthelemy 

(02:46) - Getting into real estate 

(04:39) - Leveraging previous work experience 

(05:37) - Becoming a full-time real estate investor 

(06:37) - How much money do you need to have saved up if you want to jump into real estate before quitting your job? 

(08:11) - Richard’s creative way of sourcing deals: Using VA around the country 

(10:41) - How to stay on top of training 

(11:43) - Picking submarkets 

(12:51) - Finding deals on the market: It's all about volume and following up 

(17:05) - How to reply when an agent asks you if you have seen the property 

(17:47) - Have complete clarity on what you want before creating a relationship with someone to source deals for you 

(18:45) - The cost of doing volume and buying leads 

(20:26) - Richard’s ideal client 

(21:20) - The advantage of small units: Liquidity 

(23:11) - The most difficult deal 

(25:40) - What is one of your biggest failures and what did you learn from it? 

(31:40) - What does financial freedom mean to you? 

(33:00) - Where to find out more

Welcome to The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we have Alejandro González, full-time multifamily broker with Marcus & Millichap. Alejandro is a true professional with a solid understanding of the business, and an expert in both buying and selling multifamilies in South Florida, specifically in Miami. Since he has the perspective of both a seller and a buyer, he knows how to maneuver transactions expertly. Alejandro has sold over 140 million multifamilies in sales and over 1700 units since 2013, and he's part of a team that has 6 billion in commercial sales. In today's episode we will talk about all you need to know to hire a professional broker. We will also discuss the current trends in the multifamily business, more specifically in Miami. Plus, Alejandro will share some great tips on how to better evaluate an area if you don't have the resources to do your own research. And stay tuned until the end, when we talk on how you can transition from being an investor to working in multifamilies as a broker. All this and much more, up next. 

Bullet points 

(01:38) - Introducing Alejandro Gonzalez 

(02:50) - Getting into real estate 

(04:00) - Why did you choose multifamilies in your life?

(07:50) - Finding a mentor 

(10:47) - Hiring a professional broker: Know what you want and be patient 

(16:50) - How to find the right broker for you 

(20:03) - The current trends in the multifamily business 

(23:53) - Renting in Miami: What trends are you seeing? 

(27:55) - Some tips on how to evaluate an area 

(29:38) - The most difficult deal 

(33:05) - Advice for transitioning from being an investor to working in multifamilies as a broker 

(37:00) - What does financial freedom mean to you?

Welcome The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we have Winston Schofield, full-time investor in multifamilies with just over 500 units under management. Winston has a strong background in asset management and operations, and has now established the Jorjew Group with a team of commercial real estate professionals, where they focus on stable assets where they can re-develop properties.

Today we will discuss how to recognize great opportunities, and why identifying whether or not there is a demand for housing is key before investing. We will also touch on the current state of multifamilies and why multifamily housing isn't going away anytime soon. All this and much more, up next.

Bullet points

(01:10) - Introducing Winston Schofield

(01:47) - Winston’s background: Getting into real estate

(04:15) - Transitioning from flipping homes to multifamilies

(08:17) - The first big GP multifamily deal

(09:38) - Discovering deals and building relationships: The Augusta deal

(13:26) - Identifying a great opportunity

(14:38) - What upgrades do you need to do to the units to get a bump up on rent?

(16:25) - Identifying if there is a demand: Looking at migration patterns

(17:30) - The most difficult deal

(21:21) - The state of multifamilies

(25:13) - What is one of your biggest failures and what did you learn from it?

(26:47) - What advice would you give to your younger self?

(30:18) - What does financial freedom mean to you?

(31:54) - Managing small vs big assets

(34:16) - Where to find out more

Hello, I’m Abiel Ballesteros and today I like to share with you the top 5 cities to buy multifamily real estate in 2021.

This is our own selection, based on population, migration trends, employment levels, local or state taxes, and our own experiences investing in multifamily properties, plus some other factors.

So hear me out:

There are many different variables playing in the economy right now. Some people are leaving cities and states due to high taxes, unemployment and because they want to be closer to their families.

On one hand, many sectors of the economy are being reactivated after the Covid-19 crisis, and people are returning to their full-time employment.

The interest rates remain low, so debt is still cheap.

The government keeps taking measures and pumping money into the economy to try to stabilize it.

We are seeing a shortage of housing inventory that is pushing prices up.

Many regions of the United States are experiencing huge booms in demand and the price of homes is rising sharply as a result — higher than the rate of inflation. As a result of this, many potential buyers can no longer afford to buy.

So, more people will have to rent instead of buying or will have to delay their plans for buying.

All these factors are beneficial to the multifamily industry because more people will be renting for the time being.

For example, it was recently reported that in some areas of the United States, people earned more via appreciation of their homes than from their salaries in the past year. And this was the year of the coronavirus crisis!!

Also, there have been recent migrations of people from “high tax states” like California or new york, to tax-friendly states like Florida.

Keep in mind that real estate is very local. You need to understand each local market before considering an investment because the economy of the whole country does not necessarily reflect the status of each local market.

So, let’s take a look at five cities to invest in 2021...

Welcome to The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. Today’s guest is Tony Engel, Chief Operating Officer for Sundance Property Management, where he has 8,500 units under management. Tony specializes in repositioning properties and is responsible for all the business development, acquisitions and capital improvements for Sundance.

Today we will discuss how to find the right partner for property management and when to reach out to a property management company. We will also touch on acquiring and renovating Multifamilies, plus setting the rental price that’s right for your property. All this and much more, up next.

• Bullet points
• 01:14 - Introducing Tony Engel
• 02:07 - The first real estate experience
• 05:45 - The first acquisitions
• 08:20 - Joining a team: getting into renovations and rentals
• 11:46 - Selling to investors
• 13:02 - Property management
• 16:39 - Finding a partner for property management
• 20:05 - Acquiring and renovating multifamilies
• 22:56 - The most difficult deal
• 25:32 - When to reach out to a property management company
• 28:57 - Setting the right rental price
• 30:14 - Advice for people getting started
• 32:08 - What does financial freedom mean to you?
• 37:00 - Where to find out more

A lot of people come to me to ask me how to find real estate multifamily deals? And I’m talking LARGE multifamily deals.

So let me tell you how we do it here at SAR Apartment Capital.

Listen to know the basics of this business and how we do it.

If you’re interested in what I explained or have questions on how we do it; or just want to bring us a deal that we could do a joint venture, contact me. I am always open to joining up and looking at deals. As I said, we have done some recent deals coming from other syndicators that worked out well.

We’re always open to here at SAR apartment Capital so call me, drop me a line, follow my social media, or go to my website AbielBallesteros.com.

See you soon,

Abiel

Welcome to the fourth episode of The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we welcome Doron Rice, an architect, project manager and real estate investor now focusing on multi families. Today we will discuss how much you should focus on design, plus we will give some tips for investors designing units for multifamilies. All this and much more, up next.

Bullet points

• 01:05 - Introducing Doron Rice
• 01:45 - Getting started in architecture and design
• 03:40 - What was like working on the 5th tallest building in the world
• 05:45 - Communicating remotely
• 07:35 - Working on a new project in Manhattan
• 08:55 - Getting into investments
• 11:45 - Jumping from single family to multi families: the importance of networking
• 16:15 - What does financial freedom mean to you?
• 22:20 - How we met
• 23:43 - The first deal
• 27:20 - Designing amenities
• 30:27 - Designing a lease office
• 32:00 - Advice for investors designing units for multi family
• 39:50 - What is the most difficult deal you had to fix?
• 42:50 - What is one of your biggest failures and what did you learn from it?
• 48:20 - How to reach out Doron Rice

Today I’d like to address the topic of MENTALITY, and specifically, the kind of mindset required to successfully become a passive investor. Many people want to become investors without the minimum knowledge about it. It’s not just about money; it’s about money management and the kind of approach you have to it.

So, when it comes to investing, there are many different ways to do it. But you need to be able to make a clear distinction between an ACTIVE investor, and a PASSIVE investor.

Traditionally, active investing is a hands-on approach, where you need to make frequent buy and sell decisions according to price fluctuations to make money. It means a lot of transactions and a lot of research. It requires a lot of effort, and takes a lot of time.

On the other hand, passive investing requires research of course, but you don’t have to dedicate most of your time to it. It’s a stream of income earned without much effort. One single investment can bring you a steady flow of income and yield high returns over time.

So, if you’re interested in becoming a passive investor, it probably means you have other things to do, maybe a full-time job, or the management of other assets. Or you just want the money to work for you and not the other way around. So, again, it’s about mentality.

Be honest about it: do you want to actively do work and research and complete transactions, or you rather be passive and let your investment grow by itself?

If you are clear about being passive, I have some hints for you to follow!

Welcome to the third episode of The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we welcome David Frasz, an investment consultant and advisor. Today we will discuss all about loans, what different options are there, when to reach out to an investment consultant, and why you want to have a business plan in mind before jumping in. All this and much more, up next.

Bullet points

• 00:00 - Introducing David Frasz
• 01:08 - Getting into Real Estate and financing in commercial loans
• 03:54 - How we met: inspecting a property
• 05:47 - Getting into multifamily
• 07:33 - Financing during Covid: what's the new norm and what should investors expect?
• 10:34 - What advice would you give to an investor that is looking to finance his first deal in Fannie or Freddie?
• 12:47 - When you may need to get a property manager
• 14:46 - Financing nationwide
• 15:17 - When to reach out to an investment consultant
• 18:30 - Overcoming a challenging deal
• 21:34 - Solving problems: A story
• 25:00 - Lender vs Broker
• 33:40 - Debt service coverage
• 39:18 - The importance of securitized loans
• 42:37 - Looking at net rental income (NRI) vs other incomes
• 47:40 - Some interesting loan options
• 51:00 - A supplemental mortgage
• 53:19 - Hybrid balance loans
• 55:26 - David’s program
• 58:44 - Figuring out your business plan
• 01:02:10 - Where to find out more

Welcome to the first episode of The Real Estate Life Podcast, where we create a life of passive income through real estate and doing what we love. In this episode we have Luis Becker, a full-time multifamily investor who came from Venezuela in 2015. Luis owns 200 apartments in Florida, 52 units in Miami and also has properties in Gainsville. Today Luis shares his experience in real estate, plus some great tips on how to achieve financial freedom through multifamily housing. All this and much more, up next.

• Bullet points
• 00:40 - Introducing Luis Becker
• 01:25 - The first real estate experience: turning a warehouse into a medical facility in Venezuela
• 02:30 - Coming to the United States: first deals and getting loans
• 08:10 - The first investment: tha Gainsco deal
• 09:40 - The importance of networking and identifying good deal: a story
• 14:05 - Checking out the competition
• 15:45 - Developing land
• 17:50 - Refinancing with Fannie May to remodel and increase rent
• 19:25 - Turning land into a multifamily complex through a HUD Program 23:03 - Educating yourself
• 25:40 - Learning from the biggest mistakes: financing, being overenthusiastic and partners 31:40 - What does financial freedom mean to you?
• 33:10 - Reach out about the Gainesville deal