Stop Looking for Secrets, and Start Doing the Work

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INVESTOR

Recently for a podcast interview I was asked to send over my real estate portfolio. It had been awhile since I had added it up, and I was pretty surprised!

It was pretty cool to see what we've accomplished, and to reflect on how much work it's been without much up-front benefit. This is a long game effort!

PORTFOLIO

Since purchasing my first investment property in 2018 and my first commercial property in early 2020 (just days before the lockdowns) I have acquired:

• 111 apartment units as managing partner
• 491 apartment units as general partner
• 168 units as new development/entitlement
• 10 single or small multifamily units as sole owner
• And 2 warehouses (that we later tore down for hat new development)

That's 782 investment units!

We've stabilized/sold 34 of those units, stabilized/refinanced another 77 and sold 156 permitted to build (entitled) units.

That's 267 units that have gone full-cycle (purchase to sale) or operating as stabilized.

HOW MUCH EFFORT AND REWARD?

We've had some huge challenges along the way, and it's been stressful and time consuming. We have some properties that have been relatively easy, and others that are a huge challenge.

Some we made a lot of money on, others we just broke even (the most money I've lost on a deal was the one I didn't buy, so we lost our at-risk capital like earnest money and legal paperwork fees).

It's challenging right now with some properties struggling through stabilization with high mortgages from rising interest on floating rates, and others are doing great.

We spend a couple of hours per week per property that I'm managing partner on, less after stabilization. For those that I'm a general partner but not the managing partner, we spend less, closer to an hour.

The problem properties, of course, take more time and mental energy. But I've been stressed to the max on single-family properties, my husband has been stressed to the max at his W-2. We are playing a serious game here making money to pay our bills no matter what path we choose, so we are choosing to go after the path with the biggest potential reward! For the same amount of energy, we have the possibility to 10x the reward.

IT'S WORK

I'm not here to make this sound like a walk through a rose garden, it's hard WORK and a LOT of zeroes, but our gains have FAR more than made up for our losses just in the tax savings and refunds alone, much less the gains on the investments we made by reinvesting our wins and tax refunds.

If you are after easy money, this isn't it. Is a W-2 easy money? Probably not, and the taxes are the highest of any type of income. You can lose that job: we have, repeatedly. Is any money easy money? If it exists, it's rare. So if you do this, be prepared for ups and downs, fun and fear, and the thrill of doing something with the potential for huge upside for you and your investors.

THERE ARE NO "SECRETS"

If we are going to do real estate investing, then we are DOING it, meaning that for the same stress and effort, we are going after the much BIGGER potential rewards that commercial properties can bring!

I didn't do this by spending a lot of money on programs or courses full of "secrets." There are no secrets! That word is a tacky sales ploy. Everything is free or low cost at conferences, affordable groups and courses, online information, and networking with other people already doing it.

Now I create a lot of educational material and run a free club and private fund where we look at deals together so people can decide if they want to invest as a group. This includes a YouTube channel, articles and infographics, and an ebook releasing soon.

What I'm creating can just add to the noise and promote procrastination disguised as research, but if it connects, informs, and motivates you to take the leap, it's worth adding to the party!

JUST INVEST

The secret isn't the information, it's the DOING! It's the network, and taking action. Getting some cash into your first deal is critical to get learning by doing, rather than just reading or paying for more coaching "secrets."

You have a few options to get your money, time, and education working for you.

1. Passive Limited Partner

This is where you do your due diligence up front on the operator, location, and property, invest your cash or retirement fund, and then share in the profits while doing zero of the work!

You'll typically earn more overall as a limited partner because you can continue to work at your job or business.

2. Joint Venture or General Partner

This is where you are an active partner doing work on a business like finding a deal, signing on a loan, asset management, etc. This leverages your time and experience, and can replace your job or other active income.

Partners typically make more per property than limited partners, but it's a lot more work! Definitely not passive, so it's better suited for entrepreneurs wanting to make a career shift.

80/20 RULE

There are people who jump in too fast without enough information, trusting people rather than doing due diligence: if that's you, knock it off!

But the other end of that personality spectrum is someone who analyzes as a way to make excuses to not act. Your time is better spent learning through experience rather than theory.

Once you have about 80% of the information to make a decision, it's time to make a decision!

If you tend to act too fast and jump without looking, slow down and get 80% of what you need to make an informed decision.

If you tend to agonize over details and wait until you have more than 80% of the information, take some baby steps to invest just a portion of your designated total and get started!

There's nothing better than learning by doing, and no "secrets" trump experience.

CONNECT

Let's have a conversation on how you can build wealth and passive streams of income to supplement the income from your job or business and pave the way to retiring well at a time of your choosing.

Find me at risecapitalinvestments.co where we don't sell any secrets!