Selling at the bottom of the market in real estate can get you into a lot of trouble, but as long as you have enough reserves to ride things out, you can come out the other end smiling. Today’s guest, Kevin Sharkey, rode out the last downturn and he joins us to talk about house hacking and passive investing in the current one. Kevin is a TV executive who began house hacking in 2003 and is now a partner in two out of state multifamily properties totaling 396 doors. We kick things off chatting to Kevin about his road into real estate beginning when that first value add a property in Philadelphia fell into his lap in 2003. Without knowing what he was getting himself into, Kevin bought a second house hack in Florida at the top of the market in 2006, but he managed to hold onto it right through the downturn. He shares the lessons he learned from this and we talk opportunities for sweeping up deals in downturns and the importance of resisting selling at the bottom of a market. We turn our attention to syndications next and talk to Kevin about what he likes to look for in syndicators and deals before investing, specifically at a time like this. From there, we hear about some hesitations Kevin initially had around passive investing coming from his house hacking background where he was in full control, and how he overcame them. Wrapping up for the day, we talk to Kevin about the value of networking and focus, and what he would have done differently in 2008 if he could wind back the clock. Come along for the ride!
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to Kevin’s work in TV and limited partnership investments in multifamily.
- How Kevin fell into real estate after buying a value add property in Philadelphia in 2003.
- Kevin’s thankfulness having held onto his Florida property bought at the top of the market.
- Thoughts from Kevin about opportunities in this downturn having gone through one already.
- Whether Kevin would buy properties or not if he could go back to 2008.
- What Kevin wants to see from syndication sponsors in terms of underwriting in recessions.
- Only joining downturn deals with cash reserves, staggered renovation schedules, and more.
- Overcoming syndication investing hesitations: relinquishing control and trusting operators.
- Kevin’s thoughts on his investing plans for the next five years in light of COVID.
- Our guest’s number one tool that helps his business: networking.
- The biggest mistake Kevin has made: not buying more properties in the last downturn!
Tweetables:
“It’s a scary time but it’s an exciting time because, from a market perspective, it’s a great opportunity to get in on properties and investments because a lot of people are liquidating.” — Kevin Sharkey [0:04:50]
“Be ready or have reserves, either to get you through something or to capitalize on it.” — Kevin Sharkey [0:06:00]
“When you’re looking at people that are striving to be the number one highest rent, they are probably the first person to start losing renters because they don’t want to pay the highest end of the rent for their class.” — Kevin Sharkey [0:10:35]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Asset Protection Attorney Wayne Patton
Passive Income through Multifamily Real Estate Group on Facebook
