Posted by ray@lcorn on February 09, 2004 at 09:11:05:
Ginger,
Your first two ideas are businesses, and as such do not meet the criteria of “less time, more money”. Laundromats and car washes need daily attention for cleaning, equipment service and cash collection. If you can’t manage the business yourself then you have to hire someone to do that, meaning less money to you.
Apartments can be managed using fee managers, but most here will tell you one horror story after another about inept and downright lazy property managers. It’s hard to gauge if a manager is performing adequately without firsthand knowledge of what the job entails.
One option may be triple net properties. These are properties with long term leases in which the tenant takes care of all maintenance, taxes and insurance. You won’t get as high a return on your money as with other property types, but once the acquisition is made there is no ongoing landlord responsibility. A search on loopnet.com for NNN properties should turn up a number of opportunities in your area.
Posted by Ginger on February 08, 2004 at 12:11:09:
Hi. I am a single mom, and I also work full time. (Read, a bit over extended.) I am realizing I need to do something extra to “get ahead.” I was wondering, with all of the experience on this list, in your opinion, what would be the best investment in terms of money working for me, and me not having to be there too much. I am not good at repairs. I live in Southern Calfornia, where the real estate market is insane. My three ideas are: 1) coin operated car wash, 2) coin operated laundry, and 3) apartment building. I am also open to other ideas…what do you think? Thank you! Ginger
I completely understand the dilemma and motivation to get ahead. I began investing with small houses, traditional financing, and have watched my clients grow portfolios well beyond my own group of investments. They have done this via commercial. This has encouraged me to move forward into commercial ventures and will be closing on my first apartment deal in two weeks.
I do have two clients that your post brings to the forefront of my mind.
One is a single mother with two daughters. She, interestingly enough, began with mobiles. With the help of her father bought several apartment buildings. Recently she inherited a rather large amount of commercial properties. She encourages those to persue mobiles and houses to begin, then move to commercial. I recently added her on as a client and have spent the last few weeks sorting through all of her investments. The transition from mobiles, houses to apartments and commercial has been a natural progression for her and in the beginning saved her the upfront costs sometimes associated with “holding” commercial properties. I know she would tell you to start smaller and work up from there. The experience gained at the bottom leads to the experience you must have to get to where you desire to be, commercial. She also maintains her investments long distance most of the time, requiring very little from her other than phone calls and decision making. Trust me, this woman is driven to success and does it very well.
Another is a gentleman who was in your position of very little upfront. He began investing by “flipping” properties to the big boys until he could begin his own. He now owns about 3000 units and is not “over-extended” any longer. He was a gentleman on the verge of bankruptcy.
Both of these people began like you. Nothing is impossible, you just need to dream and work towards big, and start out small to gain the knowledge you need to work the deals and the market place.