by Theresa Bradley-Banta
The information, knowledge and expertise required to become successful at multifamily investing can be overwhelming.
To succeed you must be:
- Completely dedicated and committed to investing.
- Willing to give up your evening TV, lunch hours and much of your weekends.
You cannot be in a hurry and expect to succeed.
How To Get Started Investing In Apartment Buildings
Take a look at the subheads below. Where are you in your apartment acquisition process?
Each section in this article will point you to links and resources that will:
- Educate you on how to invest in apartment buildings.
- Get you off the sidelines and into action now.
This post gives you resources and articles that show you what to do but more importantly will show you how and where to get started. Now. No excuses.
When done correctly, your apartment building investments will provide years of stable cash flow and increase your net worth. But you must get the right start. By getting into action now you will not only learn what you need to know to succeed, you will be well on your way to acquiring your first multifamily property.
Choose a multifamily investing market
There are no perfect multifamily investing markets. No matter how much research you do online you will not find information that tells you where to invest. So where do you begin? In your own back yard.
Start here:
Read: Best Cities To Buy Apartment Buildings – Free National and Metro Apartment Market Reports
What you’ll find:
- Links to national and metro apartment market reports. Download and read the reports. Get familiar with the language of apartment building investing. Then drill down to the market data on your specific market and region.
- A link to the Property Management Insider website. This website has videos and articles on nearly 100 metro markets and apartment market reports by metro for thirty cities.
Then read: Top 20 Criteria for Locating Hot Real Estate Markets
What to do:
Apply the top 20 criteria to your market. Can you speak knowledgeably about each point when it comes to your city, state and region?
Bonus:
Good sources of information for specific areas on housing, the economy, cost of living, demographics and more are Sperling’s Best Places and the Census Bureau. These resources will help you answer the question above. What do you really know about your market?
Interview your local commercial real estate brokers and drill down to submarket level information
Read: Should You Hire a Commercial Broker When Buying Apartment Buildings?
What you’ll find:
- Specific questions to ask your local commercial real estate broker.
- Everything you need to know to research your local multifamily investing markets and submarkets.
- Some great ways to source your own deals.
Bonus:
Zillow.com and Rent.com will give you an idea for supply and demand for a particular area. You can research rental rates, volume of listings and competition for a particular submarket. Look for concessions such as free rent, free utilities, no deposits required, etc. If you find a lot of concessions, landlords and managers are having trouble filling vacancies.
Read apartment investing industry magazines and books – and stay current
Did you know that there are free magazines dedicated to the apartment investing industry? Magazines that can be read online or delivered to your doorstep?
Consider this. When you have partners in your deal, partners who will help fund your investment and who look to you for your expertise, it’s essential that you keep up on the industry. You must learn everything you possibly can so that you protect your investment!
Read: Investing in Apartment Buildings – Some Mostly Free Resources
What you’ll find:
- Links to the best free industry magazines such as Multi-housing News.
- Links to free market reports from the top commercial real estate investing brokerage and advisory firms.
You’ll also want to read my book Invest In Apartment Buildings Profit Without The Pitfalls. It’s available at Amazon and on most e-readers (click here to find a link to your specific e-reader).
Some of what you’ll find:
- How to inspect a property both by driving by and by going to property showings.
- How to analyze the numbers.
- 10-minute screening tools to help you decide if you even want to visit a particular property.
Start making offers on multifamily properties and/or apartment buildings
The best way to get into action is to start making offers on properties. It can be a daunting experience. But it can be a piece of cake too. The key to successfully investing in apartment buildings is to analyze as many deals as you can. And to start making offers on those properties.
Read: How to Stop Being Afraid of Making Offers on Apartment Buildings
What you’ll find:
- Why making an offer on a multifamily property or apartment building is nothing like making an offer on a single-family rental.
- Making offers is the only way you’ll acquire a property.
- Different ways to make offers to buy (LOI, contract, etc.).
- The confidence to get into action.
Get your apartment building ownership plan in place and start talking to lenders
When you approach a lender for financing, they will want to know that your ownership plan isn’t based on guesswork. It shouldn’t be.
Read: 14 Points That Must Be In Your Apartment Building Leasing and Marketing Plan
What you’ll find:
How to put a plan together that shows:
- Who is on your team.
- How you plan to market your property.
- Details on your submarket and neighborhood.
- How you’re going to stand out from the competition.
- Your 12-month budget forecast.
- Your competence.
And speaking of your multifamily investing team…
It’s not as hard you may think to put a great team in place. Networking is key.
Read: The Best Way to Build Your Multifamily Real Estate Investing Team
What you’ll find:
- How to determine who should be on your team.
- Where and how to ask for referrals for the best in the business.
Connect with a multifamily investing mentor
If you’d like to put a strategy around these steps now is a good time to connect with a mentor. Hire a mentor or meet with an owner of multifamily properties who is willing to spend some time with you.
A mentor can help you look at and analyze a specific deal. They can also assist with due diligence, exit strategies, long range planning and much more.
Read: Hiring a Multifamily Investing Mentor or Consultant – The Pros and Cons
What you’ll find:
- A review of the pros and cons of home study, live seminars and working one-on-one with a mentor and/or consultant.
- My recommendations based on your current level of experience and expertise.
*****
Remember, all of this takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It may be months before you come across the perfect property. Keep that in mind.
Set a certain amount of time for yourself each day and week where you will work on your investing business—and stick to it. You’ll be surprised at how much and how quickly you’ll begin to learn about multifamily investing.
Take a look at: Real Estate Mentoring and Consultancy Services
To your success!
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