Real estate investing is the perfect vehicle to get creative and really stretch your mind.
–Michael Zuber
and allow us to cashflow our largest apartment building. During the depth of the real estate crash in 2010 we found an opportu- nity to get creative around another exciting real estate transaction. We found an office building that had been destroyed by homeless people breaking in. It was a total disaster— the worst of the worst we saw in 2010. We spoke with the seller who knew he had a problem. After asking some questions we learned that he wanted out of office rentals and back into single-family rentals. We thought “great news we have lots of those!” So, after running numbers we offered to trade him one of our free-and-clear rental houses for his destroyed office building. He liked that idea, so we gave him two houses to chose from. He picked one and we completed the transaction splitting all fees 50/50 to make sure agent and escrow fees were taken care of.
We then turned around did a mas- sive trash out, painted the outside and sold the shell of a two-sto- ry office building on owner-carry terms to someone who wanted to build out the office to their liking. In this deal, we put out about $20,000, gave up a house that produced about $200 in monthly cashflow and we created a note that produces almost $2,000 a month. The hardest thing to do today is find deals. Some folks spend gobs of money on mailers, texting, etc. They have huge spend and crazy overhead none of which I want or care to ever have. Instead, I thought what if I cre- ate an office building full of inves - tors, wholesalers, flippers, agents, contractors, etc. What If I charge ridiculously low rent, offered to fund some marketing, and just asked for first right refusal on any deals we bring in. I didn’t know if this idea, which I called The Hub, would work in the beginning but thankfully after
remodeling a building in Fresno, CA, and filling it with tremendous com - panies, I can say it has exceeded my expectations. Now to be clear, I lose money every month on the building as rent doesn’t cover monthly cost, but the deals it has brought me make this idea a no brainer! I will gladly lose a little money every month to have the opportunity to secure deals that can put $20K-100K in my pocket. Real estate investing is the perfect vehicle to get creative and really stretch your mind. •
Michael Zuber worked in the Silicon Valley since graduating from Santa Clara University 20+ years ago. After wasting time and money in his 20s, he
began investing buy and hold rental properties and never looked back. Michael grew his rental property portfolio from a single rental house to financial freedom in 15 years. Now that he no longer has a day job, he shares his story via his self-published book and YouTube Channel, both called One Rental at a Time.
thinkrealty . com | 25
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter