“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Spark
My journey into real estate investing began after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. In the book, Kiyosaki writes about his experience with real estate and how he uses it to build wealth.
The idea was inspiring so I began reading books and watching videos on real estate investing. It became clear that it would take a lot of single single family homes to build a decent size portfolio. Multifamily apartments make much more sense due to of the economies of scale. At 23 years old I had no capital or real estate experience to start buying apartment buildings. Like most people I thought I would have to start at the bottom with single family homes.
The Trigger
In the summer of 2014 I had just graduated college, finished a summer internship, and accepted an offer to start at a top accounting firm in the fall. That same summer, my great uncle had passed away at the age of 99. It was just his time. He left behind his Long Island estate which was located a half a block away from a train station that traveled directly into Penn Station and was within walking distance from the local village and a large shopping center. The house was also sitting in the middle of three lots, which could easily fit three homes.
Taking Action
It seemed like a great opportunity to start so I decided to attend the local real estate meeting and network with local investors. At this meeting I was able to meet and listen to a lot of experienced investors. One of them was willing to assist in the process of wholesaling my Uncle’s property. Another group was promoting a multifamily investing seminar and was doing a presentation that night. With only a month or two before I started work I decided to sign up for their three day weekend.
I was making attempts to work with the executor of my Uncle’s estate but nothing was working. With many family members on his case, he wasn’t willing to discuss anything regarding the estate with me. My dreams of doing something with that property never came to be, but I can tell you that the people who did buy, are set to make a killing right now!
Thinking Big
So my original idea didn’t pan out. At least I learned about the three day multifamily weekend.
During the event there was was a lot of information to absorb. From sourcing deals to financing and managing properties, this event covered everything. The most important discovery was the concept of syndication. Which is basically raising private money from investors for the down payment of a building, as the bank would finance the rest.
I left the meeting realizing that this was everything I ever wanted in business. I also left with a handful of new contacts and a new monthly event to attend.
