Fastest Way to Acquire 10 Investment Properties

I was talking with a new investor yesterday and he asked:  “What is the fastest way to acquire 10 investment properties?”

I think there are several questions and a couple answers to this question:

Questions:

1. Why do you want to own 10 properties?
2. Are you looking to leave your day job and work on your investment real estate exclusively?
3. Is your goal to use investment property as a supplement to your retirement or is it to add cash to your monthly income?
4. How much time and financial resources can you devote to building your investment property portfolio?

Answers:

1. Regardless of how quickly you want to acquire 10 investment properties, the most important decisions you can make is to partner with a great Mortgage Banker and a great Real Estate Agent. These individuals must own investment property and specialize in investment real estate. A good team can absolutely help you be successful at growing your investment portfolio (I have seen a bad team or no team send investors into financial ruin).
2. Once you have chosen your Mortgage Banker, I recommend that you follow every single piece of advise s/he gives you in regards to your financial future. Do not make a major purchase or change without his approval. He understands much better than you what that new car will do to your chances of getting a mortgage for that next investment property.
3. Assuming for a second that you don’t have an extra $400k sitting around to invest in real estate (for 20% down payments), in this market, I would be capitalizing on rehabs as a way to stretch your limited down payment pool as far as possible. We are working with many investors right now that are going to acquire 5-10 new Minnesota investment properties and spend very little of their initial down payment seed money. You will need a mortgage person that specializes in rehab loans.
4. I also recommend that you buy your properties in clusters. You do not want to be driving across town (especially when gas is $4 per gallon) every time you need to unclog a drain or show an apartment.
5. Get yourself organized early with an accounting system for your investment properties. Without setting this up early you will be letting money slip through your fingers by not keeping on top of what your tenants owe you.
6. Lastly, make sure you are prepared for how much work it can be to manage 10 rental properties.  Even if you are not doing the on-site management yourself, it can still be time-consuming paying bills and managing your property manager.

Setting a goal to acquire 10 investment properties is a good goal to look forward to. If you achieve it, you can set yourself up for a lucrative financial future.