Interview with A Real Estate Investor

Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and chat with Mike Veraldi, who has been in residential real estate investing full time since 2003.

In his past life, Mike was an airline pilot for a large carrier.  With cutbacks and furloughs becoming an almost daily occurrence in the airline industry, Mike decided to take a 6 month leave of absence to start investing in real estate and has never looked back.

What made you decide to try real estate investing?
"A friend of mine recommended it to me.  I took some training classes and spent about $3900 learning the business.  Then, I decided to take a leave of absence from the airline and gave myself 6 months to make back the $3900.  I made $39,000 on my first transaction and was hooked."

What is the biggest mistake real estate investors make starting in the business?
"Not listening to the advice of experienced real estate investors.  I could have avoided many problems by just listening to what I was being told by experienced investors."

What was some of the good advice you received?
"One of the best pieces of advice was to create joint ventures rather than partnerships.  The only reason to have a partnership is if each person has a unique skill to bring to the table."

How do you find residential properties to purchase?
"Any way you can think of.  I have used signs, direct mail, tv advertising, internet marketing, billboards, the local mls....the list goes on and on.  We have to be flexible and ready to change at any time.  TV commercials used to bring in a substantial portion of the leads for buying properties; then, it slowed to nothing.  We shifted gears and tried other things.  If it doesn't work, stop doing it and try something else."

What type of property seems to be the best deal?
"The person you are buying from determines the deal, not the property they are selling.  If you have a motivated seller, you can make a deal work.  An unmotivated seller is a waste of time.  Also, it isn't always the best profit that is the best deal.  Ease of the sale is also a critical factor."

About how many hours per week do you work?
"50."

Is it best to work alone or have employees?
"You have to have key players to make real estate investing work.  The first is a good, reliable source of capital.  Second, a good real estate agent.  Then, a closing agent and an attorney - they should not be one in the same.  Lastly, a loyal and reliable contractor is a must."

What have you learned in dealing with these key players?
"Pay for results.  Reward on results.  If you pay peanuts, you will get peanuts in return.  Don't pay by the hour, pay by the job."

What about financing your real estate investments?
"Traditional financing with a personal guarantee should be used very rarely and very carefully.  Try to find private investors and hard money lenders.  If you are well leveraged, you can do more deals at once.  If you cannot afford the interest payments, then it's not a deal."

How much does a new investor need to get started?
"Enough money to get properly educated and finance a marketing budget."

What about ongoing education?
"Constantly.  It can be hard when you get real busy with the daily grind of working; however, you have to keep educating yourself and learning new and better ways to run the business.  If you aren't willing to think outside the box and continuously learn, you are not going to succeed."

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