Since becoming a full time real estate professional as a Leasing Manager to a Property Management company, I have seemed to gain credibility over night among my circle of friends and business associates.  More and more do I notice that people are interested in real estate investments, especially since they recognize the record low interest rates and the great bargains for cash flow property that are in the market place.  I do not hesitate to tell anyone the line of business I am in, because the more people who know about what I do, the more potential investors will be coming to me for advice, and potential partnerships.

This practice of mine may have bore some fruit with the recent meeting I had with 3 investors, one of whom was a college friend of mine, held at a Starbucks yesterday evening.  My college friend works at GE, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.  His brother and wife both work at heavy tech companies, and are in middle to upper management positions.  Each of them recognizes the opportunity in the real estate market, but neither of them know how to get involved and protect their investments.

Boomshalaka!  That is where my value to potential investors comes in.  As the leasing manager to a property management company, I am in the thick of things day in and day out.  I no longer handle leasing anymore, and have been given the responsibility to handle certain properties management wise as well.  Sharing my experiences to these investors has given them a sense of calm, as it should, due to the experience I have first hand in dealing with tenants from a rental perspective, and from a complaint perspective.  Aside from my experience however, you as an individual have to be yourself, because if you are to go into business with anyone, they need to feel comfortable about the person who they will be speaking with and doing business with on a regular basis.

To make a long story short, there was a lot of enthusiasm when we all met, for the second time mind you, and our next action steps is to create a 4 member LLC, come up with a clean and clear operating agreement, and begin to invest their funds with my time.  OPM at its best.  My time in exchange for being a part of the deal and managing the property from tenant acquisition to rent collection.

I won't stop telling anyone what I do, and in fact, I will begin to be more confident in my approach once this LLC is consumated because I will have a basis of reference to future investors who may have the money to invest, but not the knowlege or experience.

Good luck to all of you!

Kind Regards,

Manolis Manny Sfinarolakis