PassivePockets: The Passive Real Estate Investing Show

What are you looking for when you search for assets? For Lee Harris, the President and CEO of Cohen-Esrey, population growth, job growth, and median income in a one to three-mile radius are vital traits. Cohen-Esrey is a family of companies involved in apartment management, affordable housing, development, apartment acquisition and ownership, tax credit, syndication, and construction. Today, Lee talks with host Jim Pfeifer about why it’s essential to search for assets the programmatic way. When you know what traits are necessary for your assets, you become more intentional with your investments, making the process easier and more effective! Tune in and learn to streamline your search for assets!To see the full show notes and transcript, click here.

Risk is as big a part of investing. So how do you mitigate or minimize risk and maximize your reward? In this episode, that’s the conversation as physician and investor, Ian Kurth, shares his insights with Jim Pfeifer. Ian discusses how he got into investing, the different investment assets he has handled over the years and his take on the Bitcoin craze. Want to learn more about investing from a seasoned investor? Tune in as Ian and Jim share their experiences. To see the full show notes and transcript, click here.

Nathan Clayberg is an Assistant Vice President at MLG Capital. MLG Capital is a private real estate firm that has been in the industry for over 30 years with over 22,000 multifamily units under management. In this episode, Nathan discusses how state taxes impact fund investing, the importance of choosing the right sponsor and what asset classes he favors right now.Nathan talks about why he favors the fund approach rather than a single asset syndication. One of the main advantages he sees with funds is diversification – both in different properties and in different markets.Nathan discusses when investing in a fund, taxes might need to be paid by the investor in each state where the properties in the fund are located. He describes how MLG has a unique way to invest for those with retirement funds or for those who want to avoid the state tax issue – they have a dividend fund that uses a non-traded REIT which reclassifies the income as dividend income.  Investors may forgo some depreciation benefit, but they won’t have to file state income tax returns.Nathan talks about the timing of investment in a fund – the benefit of investing early is a higher multiple because you are receiving dividends longer, but later investors have a higher IRR because your capital is returned more quickly.Nathan mentions the asset classes MLG prefers in their fund – mostly multifamily with some industrial. They will look at office and retail but only if the deal has a very compelling story.Nathan talks about importance of sponsor screening and why it’s important to receive regular and comprehensive reports from sponsors.  He also mentions the importance of location and comparable rents in the market when evaluating the proforma from the sponsor.  Podcasts he recommends:The Real Estate CPA  To connect with Nathan, you can email him at nclayberg@mlgcapital.com or click this link. If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investors’ Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.     

Josh McCallen is a nationally recognized capital syndicator, hospitality investor, turnaround specialist, conference speaker, innovator, builder & developer with a track record for the development of exceptional resort properties and growing world-class operational teams.  Josh was also a guest on Episode #2 of the Passive Investing from Left Field Podcast. In this episode, Josh talks about forcing equity through resort investing and service that revives the soul!Josh explains his two companies – Accountable Equity which is investor focused and raises money for investing in resorts and Vivamee which is hospitality focused on the guests that stay in the resorts. Josh mentions that there are three ways to invest with Accountable Equity: an equity position in the resorts, heavy cash flow from Efficient Income Funds (EIF's) which offer a return combined with tax efficiency and notes through a private REIT with a collateralized debt fund. Josh talks about the difference between Marriott and other name brand hotels and resorts operated by Vivamee.  He explains that business hotels have really struggled through Covid, but the “drive-to” resorts with lifestyle experiences have thrived through the pandemic.   Josh discusses the decision to purchase Airbnb properties nearby to his resort properties and his plans to expand the operation to build additional duplexes or fourplexes to rent to wedding parties. Josh talks about the structure of the equity investments in the resort properties and that cash flow can be expected by year two, capital will be returned within five years and investors will maintain ownership in the resorts. Josh discusses the Efficient Income Fund which is optimized to offer full tax depreciation while also providing a cash-on-cash return to the investor.  The EIF allows Josh to buy capital improvements like golf carts and kitchen equipment and rather than leasing the equipment they use the investors’ money to buy these assets and provide a return and depreciation write-offs to investors. Podcasts recommended by Josh:Cash Flow NinjaBigger Pockets Listen to Josh on his podcasts:Wealth Building with FriendsCapital Hacking Efficient Income Fund Webinar  Contact Josh and Join his Community at AccountableEquity.com. If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investor's Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.    

Dan Bartholomew is a financial advisor and a beginning passive investor.  He invested in his first two deals with a group using Tribevest.  He has been listening to the podcast and making a list of questions and agreed to be a guest on the show to get his questions answered – in order to help us all become better investors! Questions asked and answered in this episode:·       What is the difference between Cost Segregation and Bonus Depreciation? What is Depreciation Recapture?·       What is a Real Estate Professional (REP) and what are the benefits of being an REP?·       What is Cash on Cash return and IRR? For ATM’s, Cash on Cash return is greater than IRR in the proforma – why?·       What is Forced Appreciation? Is it different from Forced Equity?·       What is velocity of money as it relates to passive investing.  How can you get your capital returned and still own the asset?·       What is a cap rate and why is it important?·       When you are new to passive investing and you don't know how to digest all the information a sponsor sends for a deal, what should you focus on?·       How do you know if a deal is geared towards cash flow, appreciation or tax advantages?  Is it possible to get all 3 in one deal? ·       What is Economic Vacancy?·       What is the Capital Stack?·       What is Preferred Return (Pref)?·       What is the difference between Class A and Class B shares?·       Why would a company like Walgreens or Dollar Tree choose a triple net lease arrangement?·       What is Break-Even Occupancy?·       What is an acceptable GP/LP split?·       What is the Equity Multiplier?·       Is there one deal or one mistake that you made that changed the way you invest?  Podcasts he recommends:Tim Ferris Jocko Podcast  Passive Investing from Left Field  If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investors' Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.  

Spencer Hilligoss is the CEO & Co-Founder of Madison Investing, a real estate syndicator partnering on over $800M in multifamily and self-storage assets under management. He is both a passive investor and active syndicator with a history in the financial technology industry. In this episode, Spencer discusses matching your investment strategy to your strengths, building your own investing criteria, and understanding the structure and value of the general partners in a syndication.Spencer discusses financial offense and defense. He thought two large W2 incomes was enough but realized that multiple income streams would help insulate his family against the unknown.  That’s what he calls financial offense – things like adding income streams and setting clear financial goals.  Financial defense is thinking about creating maximum tax efficiency and expanding ones means rather than being completely focused on cutting costs.Spencer explains how his fintech experience helped him prioritize personal finance and to see money as a tool.  This perspective also led to his transition from SFH’s to syndications. He also mentions that the operator, the market, and the deal are three critical things to look at for each syndication investment. He mentions that he thinks the strength, structure and experience of the operator are the most important parts to evaluate. Spencer stresses the importance of understanding the structure of the management group and what value each general partner is adding. He recommends third party evaluation of sponsors either through your network or getting references from people who have invested with them before. He discusses the importance of building your own criteria for what is important to you to get from the sponsor.Podcasts he recommends:Old Capital Bigger Pockets Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing  To connect with Spencer, go to www.madisoninvesting.com or LinkedIn. If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investors Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.  

Liz Faircloth is the Co-Founder of The DeRosa Group, a developer of commercial and residential property with a mission to revitalize urban America. She is also the co-Founder of The Real Estate InvestHER community - a platform to empower women to live a financially free and balanced life on their own terms. She is co-Host of the The Real Estate InvestHer podcast and author of an Amazon Bestseller – “The Only Woman in the Room – Knowledge and Inspiration from 20 Successful Real Estate Women Investors!" In this episode, Liz discusses the importance of transparency from general partners when explaining who is involved in the management of a deal, why being comfortable with the sponsor is key to success and why she started a community for women investors.Liz talks about analyzing your own success so you can let go of what isn’t working. She mentions that she started syndicating in NJ and Philadelphia but markets became overheated so she needed to find new markets. Initially she started investing in Lancaster, PA before moving on to markets in NC and KY.Liz discusses the importance of understanding the focus and strengths of the sponsor and making sure that matches what they are actually doing. She talks about investing in C class neighborhoods and properties and the importance of knowing the market and targeting the assets that meet her investing thesis.Liz talks about being a GP and the importance of the sponsor's transparency regarding who is involved in the deal.  She stresses that if a sponsor is vague or evasive about their team then that can be a huge red flag.  It should be clear who is on the team and what their role is.Liz discusses the InvestHer Community and why she started a network for women investors.  She also talks about how the Community works on building each other up and helping women grow confidence in their investing.Podcasts she recommends:The Real Estate InvestHer Show Brene’ Brown PodcastTo connect with Liz go to www.derosagroup.com or therealestateinvesther.com. If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investor's Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.  

Peter Badger is the Chief Strategy Officer at Farmfolio.  Their mission is to make farmland ownership easy for everyone. Peter has been an avid real estate investor for years and educator with a current focus on overseas farmland. In this episode, Peter discusses why overseas farmland is a worthy investment, how it works and why the returns are better than U.S. farmland.Peter talks about multifamily and overseas farmland – the two asset classes which thrived for him during pandemic.  He also discusses the importance of real assets because the stock market is so cyclical and the benefit of investing in farmland as an asset class that is completely non-correlated to other assets.  He mentions that the core of his wealth is in real assets like multifamily and farms.Peter talks about his multifamily portfolio and the why he still invests in apartments but has now changed his focus to farmland as he can have more control and no tenant related risks. He mentions that many high wealth people have up to 25% of their wealth in farms and forestry. He likes the Farmfolio approach because the farms are managed in the entirety but can be broken into individual lots and can be sold individually and managed under a Farm Owners Association.  The returns are combined with all plots on the farm, so you get the average of the whole farm rather than just from your plot. He also mentions that there is a secondary market for the farms, so you can sell a performing farm plot to a new investor.He explains that farmland and labor in the United States are more expensive than overseas which lowers returns significantly.  There are also improvements that can be made to the land and processes because many overseas farms are not as sophisticated and the farmers don’t have the expertise to export to the U.S. where they can get higher prices for their products.Peter talks about the importance of choosing the right country, making sure that you understand the property rights, how to take title, foreign ownership rules and capital controls of money coming in and leaving the country. He also discusses how to analyze the deal, concentrating on sponsor, market and asset class. Podcasts he recommends:Old Dog Real Estate Podcast  Risk Matrix he mentioned can be accessed here: https://tinyurl.com/farmlandanalysismatrix To connect with Peter email him at peter@farmfolio.net or go to www. farmfolio.net. If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investor's Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.   

Ivan Barratt is a multifamily owner, manager, and syndicator who specializes in large apartment communities in the Midwest. Since 2015, he has raised nearly $150 million in equity and acquired over 5,000 multifamily units. Today, Ivan focuses his time on equity finance, acquisitions, and company strategy. His company, BAM Capital, manages nearly $593 million in syndicated assets. In this episode, Ivan discusses why he prefers multifamily apartments, why structuring debt effectively is critical and how a refinance with infinite returns might not be the best way to increase returns.Ivan talks about the strength of multifamily in the current market and the risks of both inflation and deflation.He discusses the difference in debt structures, the importance of properly structured bridge debt and efficient long-term debt.Ivan talks about the benefits of selling an asset rather than refinancing and why the infinite return model may be less effective than selling an asset and recycling the funds into a new deal.Ivan discusses why he prefers a fund model rather than an individual asset investment and why a fund is better for the sponsor and the investor.Ivan explains how to analyze a sponsor who is managing a fund and importance of finding a fit between investor and fund manager and if there is no fit. It’s ok for both parties to move on.  He also talks about the importance of referrals when analyzing a sponsor.Podcasts he recommends:Real Vision  To connect with Ivan, go to https://capital.thebamcompanies.com or call him at 317-762-2625.If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investor's Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.  

Tania Mirchandani is the Vice President of Capital Markets at Clear Capital. She worked in wealth management for nearly 15 years at Goldman Sachs. She has been involved in multifamily real estate management, operations and acquisitions for 5 years and she joined Clear Capital at the beginning of this year. In this episode, Tania talks about the importance of trust and confidence in a sponsor, the different information needs that individual investors have and some important deal metrics to analyze when reviewing a deal.Tania talks about the illiquidity of syndication investments and the importance of general partners investing in their own deals.Tania explains the importance of trust and confidence in people you are investing with and how that trust can be transferred through referrals and word of mouth.  She also talks about different investors and their needs for depth of information when they are reviewing deals. She encourages everyone to figure out how they want to pursue an investment opportunity and to get comfortable with whatever level of information they need before investing.Tania mentions some of the metrics that are important to her when analyzing a deal. Podcasts she recommends:Focus On Facts Super Soul  To connect with Tania go to www.clearcapllc.com or email her at tania@clearcapllc.com. If you would like to contact Jim Pfeifer, you can email him at jim@leftfieldinvestors.com or if you would like to find out more about Left Field Investors go to www.leftfieldinvestors.com.  Our sponsor, Tribevest provides the easiest way to form, fund, and manage your Investor Tribe with people you know like, and trust.  Tribevest is the Investor Tribe management platform of choice for Jim Pfeifer and the Left Field Investor's Community.    Tribevest is a strategic partner and sponsor of Passive Investing from Left Field.