[quote=flyer][quote=flu][quote=flyer]Agree with flu and FIH that rental properties (residential and commercial) are also a great way to go. Regardless of education and career choices, getting into that game years ago in San Diego and elsewhere has also really paid off for us, and just about everyone we know. As BG said, there are definitely challenges, but that is to be expected, and, in most cases the issues can be managed.[/quote]
Ok flyer, totally off topic now. but since you brought it up, I’ll ask. How does one even get started with commercial real estate on a small scale? Beyond fishing through loopnet (which some have said it’s the worst way to buy commercial RE)… If you don’t feel comfortable sharing publicly, it would be great if you could PM me. Would be interested in picking your brain about this, without being fed to the sharks. The last arrangement any family member had with commercial RE had to do with a property that was in Manhattan Beach found by a family friend that had a good rental stream, since it was that was a large land occupied by corporately owned fast food restaurant for which the corporate entity paid for the building and lot maintenance and the property taxes, so the only thing the partners did was collect the rent check and renegotiate the lease every 10 or so years. Unfortunately, the guy that found us this thing tried to squeeze all the other partners out after the thing really appreciated, so everyone ended up selling their respective stake and forcing everyone to get out of that clusterf of an arrangement, and killing the goose that laid the golden egg, so to speak..
So what’s the secret sauce into the world of commercial RE? And do you have anything in San Diego? Would prefer *not* to be involved in any sort of partnership with people that I don’t know well. I’m not interested in any sort of bullshit from PETDNT (piggington experts that don’t know shit), but would be in debt to folks that really know what they are doing to provide some “education”. Rest assured any sort of involvement I would possibly be in would not disturb the 1% club that you belong to, as my financial impact on that club would be like 0.0000000001% if any…. :)[/quote]
flu, don’t mind your questions at all, and if we had anything going on that would work for you, we’d be glad to chat, but, commercial is now a thing of the past for us. I brought it up because we were once very involved, but, as the city developed, and our holdings became more and more valuable due to the locations we held, it seemed wise to cash out.
Commercial is much more complicated these days, probably because people seem to be a lot more complicated these days, (reference the scenario you mentioned) but many of our deals were made with family, friends and a handshake–if you can believe that–and that’s probably the only way we would have been comfortable being involved in that type of business at that time. It was all very “old school,” so I’m probably not the best person to talk to concerning today’s marketplace.
If I remember correctly, I think you’ve mentioned working with some of the realtors on this forum concerning your investment properties, which, from their posts, sound like great people. Any chance of talking to them or people they might know about current commercial opportunities?[/quote]
I wish the good professionals I work with residential also work with commercial, but unfortunately, they don’t. With what family has experienced, it made me leery of just cold calling to people pitching they are commercial RE experts without some reputation of being trustworthy.
We didn’t get screwed. We almost got screwed, we came out pretty clean and ahead.. But just going through the discovery of digging up a lot of dirt on the individual and then push the other partners to vote the guy off the management team was a major PITA. Turns out he was bilking another investment group of 15-20 people that were his long time friends for millions over the years…. Guy was a real piece of work. On the outside, he appeared benevolent, as he use to donate millions to charity. That money was money he stole from a lot of his friends, some of them as far back as grade school friends, and I suspect the reason why he did that was to con other people into trusting him.
