I received an email from a potential student with a bunch of questions trying to figure out why the MFIA Owner Forum was a different type of coaching/consulting/mentoring program for real estate investors looking to own apartments. I figured that if I responded, he would just take anything I said as a sales pitch, so instead, I put it out there to my students and here is what one of them came back with . . . . . 

“Charlie forwarded your email below over so I thought I would jump in and answer your questions to the best of my ability as a student of his.  

“First, a little background on me...I was working a corporate job and investing in real estate on the side, but couldn't get over the hump into the bigger properties.  I left my job to take the plunge full-time investing in 2013, and at that point, had a vacation rental, a single-family townhouse rental and a 10-unit multifamily.  That may sound like a lot, but believe me, it wasn't enough for...

I did a live radio show! You have to hear this one. This was one of the best interviews I have ever been on. This guy (Brian Stark) was the best interviewers. He had me on my toes the whole hour. You have to hear it! You can download it by clicking here. 

What are the biggest mistakes you should avoid when investing in multi-family properties? Hear that answer and much more in this awesome podcast interview with Charles Dobens. You can listen to it by clicking here.

Last week you got ot hear Part I. Here is the second part of the interviewing process.

I recently spoke with an old friend of mine, Ken Shephard of Creative Deals, regarding a client of his in Cleveland that needed assistance in getting a multifamily property under contract. He reminded me of a series of podcasts he and I had done several years ago.

I got them out of the archives, dusted them off and am posting them here in two parts for your listening enjoyment.

Enjoy!

Click Here for Part II

I recently spoke with an old friend of mine, Ken Shephard of Creative Deals, regarding a client of his in Cleveland that needed assistance in getting a multifamily property under contract. He reminded me of a series of podcasts he and I had done several years ago.

I got them out of the archives, dusted them off and am posting them here in two parts for your listening enjoyment. Part II will be next week.

Enjoy!

Click Here for Part I

When you start looking at properties, you will begin receiving property marketing packages from many different sources. As a result, you will need to become an expert in the different types of terminology that is “bandied about” in this industry. Your objective will be to be able to look at a property package and within five minutes determine if it is a deal or not. After looking at thousands of properties, I know right away, whether I have a ‘keeper’ or a ‘trasher’. You will be able to do the same. Get Download here . . . .

Everyone keeps telling me I should start my own podcast? Why? I'm on so many other people's podcasts, I don't have the time. Here is another great interview I had with Joe Fairless about multifamily investing. Check it out by clicking here.

Find out more about working with Charles Dobens. Click here!

My good friend Mitch Stephen just interviewed me on his new podcast. I got this email and wanted to share it with you.

Hey Charles:

We are excited to announce that our new Podcast Real Estate Investor Summit has launched!

This is a big undertaking, but we know it will help educate more people and help them achieve their freedom! 

We currently have 35 episodes available and will be adding three more every week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! 

If you would like to check it out, CLICK HERE

Looking forward to working with you.

One of the biggest fallacies that I hear many new investors talk about is how much money they are going to make by buying a C-class property in a B-class area and then reposition the property and cash out. Or it could be a B-class in an A-area. Regardless, they never understand what repositioning really means because the most important part of repositioning is never explained properly to them.

Just like with fixing and flipping single family homes, any problem can be fixed with money. You can take a C-class property and drop $6,000 per unit in rehab expenses and make it absolutely gorgeous with granite countertops and hardwood floors but that does not make it a B-class property. Remember what brings value to a multi-value business –  the contracts.

The only way to get more valuable contracts is to get higher-paying customers/residents. The fact that a unit has been completely rehabbed and is absolutely beautiful does not mean that a new tenant base is set to move in.

...

If you have been following any of my articles or have seen me speak before about multifamily investing, you know that one of my favorite lines is “Loopnet is where deals go to die”. You also know that I feel that Loopnet is not where new multifamily  investors should be spending much of their time.

But that does not mean that I do not use Loopnet as a tool in my business on a daily basis.

It’s how I use Loopnet differently than every other investor that makes the difference. Here’s what I mean. Most investors use Loopnet to search for properties in a specific geographical location. Everyone is quickly schooled in the search feature for Loopnet to drill down on that location that is supposedly the next emerging market.

But instead of searching for properties based upon the geography, use the search feature to find properties based upon certain keywords.

Here’s what I mean.

Go to the Search Properties for Sale link. Instead of typing in a location,...