When I left corporate America to get involved in multifamily real estate, I thought I was ready to get started, but when I began looking to get loans from banks, they weren’t interested in me because I had no experience. So I began fixing and flipping, and eventually, I met somebody to partner with me on a deal and got my name in the newspaper. After that, I was able to get the credibility to continue making deals and build a portfolio. Knowing what I do now, here are some things that you should know if you are also looking to leave your job and get involved in multifamily investing.
Making the move
If you are in a similar situation as I was when I left my job in corporate America, here are four main tips for that first move into multifamily investing that I wish I had understood when making that decision.
- Be sure that you have 12 months of expenses saved.
- Be sure to talk to the people around you who will be most affected by your decision, whether they be your children, a partner, or parents. Be certain that they understand what kinds of changes could happen.
- Build relationships with potential clients as you make your exit. Make sure that the people that you know who may be interested in buying from you in the future see what you are doing. Build confidence with them so that they see you as someone that they will buy from.
- Understand that you will need to make purchases that will require good credit and pay stubs. Make these purchases before leaving your role and getting into multifamily. This may require spending more at the onset but will be better for you in the long term.
Why is it so important to get educated in the right way?
Speaking from personal experience, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Since I had no prior experience, the banks didn’t want to give me money. But how was I supposed to get experience without capital? I learned that banks don’t invest in dreams; they invest in proven business plans with experienced operators. I was listening to all kinds of educational materials, but the information was disjointed, and I didn’t know what I was doing. It would have been better if I had gone through a program or had a coach.
I learned the hard way, which now allows me to teach other people and share my experiences. But I don’t want people to go through what I went through to get to where I am today. Often, the name of the game in real estate is to tell people that they don’t need any experience, money, or credit to get a deal, make a massive investment, and have it pay for itself. I don’t believe this is how it is done, and I think that a lot of people are being taken advantage of with these empty promises. Particularly, people of color and first-generation wealth creators who give their money to people who have no intention of helping them get deals done.
Educating other people about how to invest in multifamily real estate is important to me because I want great people in the industry, people who will make a positive impact in their communities. And getting into the industry can require some hand-holding to help people gain the knowledge framework required to make a success of it.
How do you find the right platform?
If educating yourself is so foundational, then what should you be looking for in a program or coach? The important thing to remember is that in finding a good platform that works for you, there are more right answers than less right answers. Make sure to spend some time getting to know the person or program that you are learning from. Are they on social media? What are they offering to the community? What values do they communicate, and do they match yours?
It is key to understand somebody’s “why”, and to have an understanding of what you want to accomplish as well. A barrier for you may be an issue of diversity and representation. Can you find a teacher that will help you connect and reflect the people that you are looking to do deals with? Understand what your values are, what resources you have, and try to match those with a teacher that can help you realize those.
Too often, educators will only present their experience with a highlight reel, so it may be better to look for educators who also share their missteps.
Conclusion:
The point of education is to become an expert in your field. As you decide to make the switch to multifamily investing, commit to bettering yourself, and learn as much as you can all the time. And the more effort you put into educating yourself, the more you’ll learn from other people’s mistakes. That will make you a successful real estate investor and an asset to your team and network.
At JeromeMyers.co we offer three different levels of education. The first is the podcast, which offers a more casual education. The podcast facilitates authentic discussions about investing mishaps and shows the ugly side of real estate investing.
The second level introduces you to our intensive, 3-day conferences. They feature inspiring speakers who can help you decide if you want to get involved in multifamily investing and share insights on how to succeed.
The third level on the website comprises a course and real estate investing mentorship program. This approach is for people looking for a deeper investment and offers an understanding of our organized process. We share exactly what we do and why we do it. The goal of this course is to help people along in their real estate investing process.
If you don’t have a picture on the box of the puzzle, how do you put it together? By educating potential multifamily investors, we give you the big picture and the framework and then help you fill in the pieces.