High BlackCard21,
I have a Nephew who is almost 20, you sound very much like him as he wants to start life at the top, it's not bad to have goals and have a dream but reality say's that you have to gain experience as you go along.
I bought my first investment property on a wrap at 19, it was seven fixer upper units in San Diego, CA. I thought it was the greatest thing since chopped liver, I worked on it in my spare time for almost a year around going to college and working full time. It consumed my spare time and when I sold it a little over two years later I figured I only made about $10 dollars an hour for my time, it taught me to work smarter, not harder.
I had parents who were big investors, my mom was a real estate broker who also had a college degree and a dad who was a real estate developer, engineer and MBA and both were big on real estate investing, I got the benefit of two very skilled mentors who started teaching me real estate, construction and development at an early age, I think I was maybe 7 years old when I first started going to job sites, being shown the right way and the wrong way.
Property was cheaper to buy in the early 1970’s and to be a “Multi-Million Dollar Sales agent” meant you had to sell a bunch of 25k, 35k and 50k properties, my mother brokered an office and managed 30 or 40 agents and could still sell millions in real estate every year, it was the day when agents and brokers actually worked long days, normally 7:30 am till 10:00 or 11:00 at night, six or seven days a week and actually served there buying clients.
I worked in the construction industry going through college, I had 6 years experience in construction working after school, weekends and summers during Jr. high and high school, I had more experience than most by the time I bought that first property.
I have worked hard for 30 years, I have paid my dues, and learned by the school of hard knocks, I did not get an opportunity to partner on a real apartment property until I got a percentage of a property in Los angeles with my parents in 1985, everything till that point were single families, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and the occasional five, six seven or so unit properties I could wheel and deal for.
But you see the difference is by 1985 I was out school, I had three years of construction management experience and had successfully worked together to complete three projects in Los Angeles between 50m and 100m successfully, I was creating a track record of successfully completeing projects on time and under budget and had gained experience successfully managing millions of project dollars.
I had 8 or 9 rental properties in 1985 and had bought and sold forty or fifty properties at this point, I was beginning to know what I was doing, and actually making a profit.
I do not know your background or history of education or experience but I can tell you enphatically that know one will put money with you for real estate in a project in which you have no experience, no track record and no money (skin) in the game.
I might as well have a wieny roast and burn the 40k as it will go right down the toilet with you, and I am specifically refering to the responsibilities of the project and inability to successfully manage 96 units.
Start with a single family, gain experience if you want to pursue apartment investing then learn all you can, look at a whole lot of properties, learn construction from the maintence and renovation standpoint and get some experience with duplexes, tri[plexes and fourplexes, build experience and a track record and try this again in fifteen or twenty years. Getting a “CAM” Certified Apartment Manager credentials probable doesn’t hurt either.
Your ambition is admirable, but keep in mind people who invest in apartments, don’t need partners with no education, experience or money!
Good luck to you.
GR
