Insights from Crowdfunding Expert Adam Gower

 

Insights from Crowdfunding Expert Adam Gower

 

Guest: Adam Gower, a seasoned real estate crowdfunding and syndication expert hailing from Central Coast California, has embarked on an extraordinary journey in real estate finance. His diverse experiences, from dwelling in Beverly Hills to navigating the California Coast’s tumultuous waters, have uniquely sculpted his perspective on real estate investing. Within his captivating background lies an intriguing PhD thesis, delving into the historical intricacies of banks underwriting financing during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war. Adam’s profound knowledge of financial history and its practical application to real estate investment is genuinely enlightening.

 

Big Idea: In this episode, Adam Gower, a real estate crowdfunding and syndication expert, discusses the evolving landscape of real estate financing, emphasizing the importance of risk management, adapting to changing market dynamics, and leveraging syndication and crowdfunding opportunities for real estate investors.

 

 

    

 

Dan: That’s right. So, Adam, we’re going to get into GowerCrowd, Crowdfunding as our main topic. But before we do it, I thought a cool place to start would be where we are talking about right before we hit record. You have this PhD in an interesting topic. Would you mind briefly describing that?

Adam: Sure. I wrote a thesis that examined how banks underwrote their financing of Japan during the 1904 and 1905 Russo-Japanese war. Oh my goodness, how obscure could that be? What I found interesting about it, why I ended up writing this thing was that when you look at, it’s called the historiography, when you look at how people have reported this particular period in American banking history. The way they reported it was that Kuhn Loeb was headed up by – oh they complete it with JP Morgan. And this was in the day of the railroad barons and the robber barons, they were called. And Jacob Schiff and Kuhn Loeb, and JP Morgan, all these guys, they were all part of that party. The historiography says that Kuhn Loeb took really huge unnecessary risks, and I just didn’t believe it.

When I got the idea to write this PhD, I was working for East West Bank. I was brought in during the global financial crisis, so 2007-2008. I just thought, no, banks don’t take risks like that. They don’t just randomly invest because, whatever, some kind of wacky political points of view, which is what everybody said Kuhn Loeb had done. So, I decided to dive into it. And so, what I did was, it was really cool actually, Dan, seriously, I mean, I was able to access all the telegrams that went back… It was a syndicate of banks, the finance Japan. I look to handwritten letters, telegrams that went back and forth, and contracts. They were all handwritten in those days. It was really, really cool. I read all of this stuff that they never anticipated. They never thought anyone will ever read this. I got into all of this stuff. I figured these guys, they were really, really diligent on not only underwriting the risk but making sure, a couple things, one, they made absolutely sure that their investors were going to get their money back. Even if whether Japan won or lost. If you read between the lines here, you can see how this applies to real estate investing. But they were very, very sure that their investors would get their money back because they had guarantees from the Japanese government. And number two, even more importantly, as bankers, and I”ll extend this to real estate sponsors today, they were also extremely careful in the way they structured their deals that they made money, didn’t really matter if anybody else did at the end of the day.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://GowerCrowd.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Adam Gower & I Discuss Crowdfunding:

  • Market Migration Trends: Exploring the migration of people from California to Florida and its potential impact on the real estate market.
  • Risk Management: Drawing lessons from historical financial practices to highlight the crucial role of risk management in modern real estate investing.
  • Changing Real Estate Dynamics: Understanding the impact of fluctuating interest rates, insurance costs, taxes, and other factors on real estate investments.
  • Principal-Agent Conflict: Emphasizing the importance of active management and hands-on involvement in real estate deals to maximize returns.
  • Syndication and Crowdfunding: Exploring the legal aspects and online visibility needed to attract investors through crowdfunding and syndication, along with strategies for scaling real estate businesses.

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 231 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Navigating Real Estate Investment: From Young Enthusiast to Mobile Home Parks with Mitchell England

 

Navigating Real Estate Investment: From Young Enthusiast to Mobile Home Parks with Mitchell England

 

Guest: Mitchell England is a dynamic real estate investor and entrepreneur known for his strategic prowess in property investments. With over a decade of experience, Mitchell’s journey in real estate began during his teenage years when he was inspired by “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” He has since built a diverse portfolio spanning multiple states and property types, with a particular focus on mobile home parks. Mitchell’s investment philosophy revolves around long-term holds and leveraging smart debt, all in pursuit of his vision for generational wealth and financial freedom through real estate.

 

Big Idea: Mitchell England shares his journey into real estate investing, starting as a young enthusiast inspired by “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” He discusses how he began with single-family properties, the importance of cash flow in his investment strategy, and his transition to owning and managing mobile home parks across the United States. Mitchell emphasizes the advantages of mobile home parks, such as stable cash flow and lower maintenance costs, and highlights the challenges of managing tenant-owned units. He also delves into the concept of good debt and how it has evolved over time, the ideal characteristics of a perfect mobile home park, and strategies for handling tenant turnover in older communities.

 

 

    

 

Dan: Okay, cool. So as our origination story, maybe you can kind of touch on how you got in real estate and sort of how you evolved into the space that you’re in now, and then kind of a summary of where you’re at now, just to get us started.

Mitchell: Yeah. So I started really young. I stumbled upon Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which I know a lot of people listening to this probably have a similar story. But I read that book and it changed my whole perspective on life and how to provide value, and it made me start to question everything. I probably read the book at 16 years old. I was in high school at the time, and I was watching the run-up happen. That was like 2004, 2005, right in there. I was watching a lot of people make a lot of money in real estate. And so, that book paired with this huge run-up in the market, I was like, “Man, I got to get in this game.” I know you’re laughing, right? Because what happens next? But that was my first like, “Hey, what is this thing? How do I get into the game?” And I started asking that question. So early on, I jumped in, I bought a couple of pieces of property, thinking, “Hey, I’m going to go make some money on these things.” A couple of bare pieces of property, actually like vacant land. And you know what happens next, right? Oh, [inaudible] and I’m holding the bag, right? I’m holding these two properties going like, “Huh, maybe I don’t really understand this game as close as I thought.” And so, throughout my 20s, I was really interested in real estate. And I dove into a couple of other land deals, a couple of smaller duplex, single-family type stuff. And for me, the big aha was like when I got my first cash flow property, I thought, “Oh my gosh, someone else can pay for this. This is pretty amazing.” I probably should have been a faster learner than that, but it took like six or seven years to figure out like, “Oh, I could put a renter in. This is pretty incredible.” But I got addicted to the cash flow real estate. I just got addicted to it because I thought, “Well, gosh, this could give me not only like pay for my real estate, but also give me freedom.” And so, that first cash flow property was sort of a house hack. And from there, I started to buy some other single-family duplexes, kind of some smaller stuff. And then during that time, I was also working my corporate job. I was working at a med-tech company. And so, life was really busy, but I started to see real estate as like this escape, this thing that I could do. I could build up cash flow properties and slowly leave my job. And so, that was really like the catalyst.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://www.CadiaCapitalGroup.com/

https://www.zeroto100tribe.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Mitchell England & I Discuss Navigating Real Estate Investment:

  • Ideal Mobile Home Park Characteristics: Mitchell discusses the key attributes of an ideal mobile home park, including city utilities, paved roads, and tenant-owned units.
  • Tenant Turnover and Value-Add Strategies: The challenges and strategies associated with tenant turnover and value-add opportunities in mobile home parks.
  • Good Debt and Financing: Exploring the concept of “good debt” in real estate investing, emphasizing the benefits of non-recourse loans and favorable terms.
  • Investment Philosophy and Long-Term Hold Strategy: Mitchell’s investment philosophy centered around long-term holds, cash flow, and building a portfolio that’s inflation-resistant.
  • Challenges in Mobile Home Park Investments: Addressing the complexities of managing older and newer homes in the same community and finding solutions to attract new tenants to older park communities.

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 230 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Taylor Loht: Navigating Multifamily and Self-Storage Real Estate Investments

 

Taylor Loht: Navigating Multifamily and Self-Storage Real Estate Investments

 

Guest: Taylor Loht is a seasoned real estate investor specializing in multifamily and self-storage properties. He hosts the “Passive Wealth Strategy” podcast and has a diverse investment portfolio spanning various markets, including Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, and mid-Michigan. Taylor employs syndication models to raise investor capital for strategic property acquisitions. His approach emphasizes value-add strategies to boost net operating income and property value. Taylor’s insights highlight market selection, the importance of a well-executed business plan, and considerations of interest rate trends. Through his podcast and expertise, he offers valuable guidance to real estate investors of all levels.

 

Big Idea:  In this podcast episode, Taylor Loht, a real estate investor and host of the Passive Wealth Strategy podcast, shares insights into his investment strategies in multifamily and self-storage properties. He discusses the importance of choosing the right markets and property types, emphasizing a preference for B-plus multifamily assets and larger self-storage facilities. Taylor also highlights the impact of rising interest rates on investment decisions and the need to make sound financial plans, cautioning against relying too heavily on Internal Rate of Return (IRR) metrics.

 

 

    

 

Dan: So do you want to give us a reader’s digest of your business model right now, Taylor?

Taylor: Sure, absolutely. So I invest in multifamily and soft storage deals. Again, pretty well spread out around the country. We do the syndication model where we raise investor capital to buy these properties. Our investors invest their equity and ride along with the investment for whatever the hold period is. Historically, there were a lot of folks holding in the say, three to five-year range, especially when the market was very hot and interest rates were falling, everything like that. Now that we find ourselves in a higher interest rate environment, shall we say, I think hold times are generally going to get more extended maybe five to seven years. But that’s probably a topic for another part of our conversation here. So investing in commercial multifamily and self-storage deals with a value add strategy. So your listeners are probably familiar with flipping residential real estate.

I understand that’s what you do. Well, this model is similar but different in many ways. Our hold periods are much longer, which changes the capital gains tax and everything around that situation. But that’s not the only reason. The value add strategy in commercial real estate is really based around raising a net operating income of the property. So in the case of multifamily, getting into a property with say, 100% classic interiors, old outdated interiors where tenants in the area would be willing to pay more for updated interiors, maybe improve the management, improve the exteriors, things that would make somebody be willing to pay more in rent for the units. Get in there, fix ’em up, raise the net operating income, and that in turn raises the value of the property. And depending on the strategy of the deal, you can either refinance and return capital to investors or just choose to sell lock in your gain, and move on to the next one.

So some folks look at it as flipping commercial real estate. Generally, there are some key differences. The timelines are longer, we generally look to cash flow from the property as well while we hold it, rather than having it all vacant and fixing it up. We need to be producing income in order to demonstrate that the value of the properties are going up. But they are pretty straightforward and I think well-proven business models as long as it’s implemented properly with the correct financing and reserves and everything around that.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://www.PassiveWealthStrategy.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Taylor Loht & I Discuss Navigating Multifamily and Self-Storage Real Estate Investments:

  • Market Strategy: Navigating Secondary and Tertiary Markets for Success
  • Property Preferences: Maximizing Returns with B-Plus Class Multifamily Investments
  • Interest Rate Impact: Capitalizing on Current Interest Rate Trends in Real Estate
  • Investment Strategy: Crafting Effective Business Plans and Deal Rationality in Real Estate

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 229 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.