Ep. 195 James Donnelly: Residential Property Management

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Residential Property Management

With the cap rate compression environment that we’re in right now, it’s more important than ever for multifamily investors to be creative about how they add value in order to increase rents and get a good return on their investment.

In this week’s podcast, we talk with James Donnelly, Founder and CEO of Castle Group, which focuses on residential property management. James discusses the 3 main strategies he employs to add value to his company’s investments and deliver top level services and amenities to a new generation of every more demanding residents.

The 3 main categories James discusses to add value to an investment is: 

  • Traditional value-add – e.g. painting, putting in a new floor, or adding new amenities
  • Technology – using technology to make you not only more efficient, but also using that as a revenue stream
  • Better management and service

Join us for this podcast as James gives his investment advice and his take on the multifamily market in Florida.

Key Discussion Points
[04:48] About our guest: James Donnelly
[06:28] How did you get started in Residential Property Management?
[11:29] How did you end up in South Florida?
[14:40] Where do you see the multifamily market going?
[18:36] What cap rates are you seeing around Florida?
[23:27] What are some of the other value-add plays that are emerging right now?
[25:33] What common mistakes do you see property managers or others making?
[31:09] How can folks contact you?
[31:53] Summary of where we are, where we’re headed, & what you would tell someone who’s calling about a deal in Southease Florida
[37:42] Closing remarks by Eric and Steven

 

About Our Guest

2018-James-Donnelly-500px

James Donnelly is the Founder and CEO of Castle Group. He has over 30 years of experience serving residential communities in managing residential properties. James is a CPA, general contractor, investor, and prominent speaker in the industry. He is very active in the community and benefactor of numerous philanthropic organizations.

Most recently, James, received the Sun Sentinel’s Excalibur Business Leader of the Year for Broward County as well as the 2019 Terry Stiles South Florida Leadership Award presented by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.  He has also been recognized in the South Florida Business Journal as one of Broward County’s Ultimate CEO’s, was inducted in 2014 into the Hall of Fame at Nova Southeastern University’s H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship and was honored by Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2017 on Free Enterprise Day as a Companion Medalist.

Websitecastlegroup.com
Phone:   800.337.5850

 

Ep. 149 Bryan Chavis: How Continuing Real Estate Education Can Open New Doors on Your Multifamily Journey

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The path to real estate investing requires two things: perseverance and know-how. You need perseverance to keep hitting the markets; networking and finding deals, but first you need to real estate investing works.

Often when we see or hear stories of struggling investors, they are missing one of these two fundamentals. You may be able to get by for awhile with investing blindly, but more often than not, that ends up getting you burned. Maybe you understand investing in a certain asset class – say single family homes. However, you don’t know what you don’t know. There may be other opportunities out there for you to scale your investing, but if you don’t educate yourself, you may never find them. A willingness to learn and adapt your strategy is essential for any investor. If you are starting on your multifamily journey, a continuing real estate education is the best way to open new doors and discover new opportunities.

Our guest this weeks understands the importance of education and perseverance.

Multifamily Property ManagementBryan Chavis is an active multifamily investor as well as author, blogger, educator. His best-selling books Landlord Entrepreneur and Buy It, Rent It Profit, outline the financial draws of investing in multifamily rentals. He also runs the Landlord Academy, through which he shares his knowledge and experience of owning and managing multifamily rentals and coaches others how to do the same. Bryan is a testament to how a continuing real estate education can open new doors on your multifamily journey. The road may get rocky and Bryan will be the first to tell you that you’re going to experience setbacks, knowledge and perseverance will see you through.

After realizing the path to his multifamily journey was appearing before him Bryan dedicated himself to learning and understanding multifamily investing with a holistic approach. Bryan worked his way up, starting on the leasing side and working his way into property management. This experience showed him the cashflow potential of multifamily properties and he was able to leverage that property management experience into equity ownership deals. By dedicating himself to a multi-faceted approach to his real estate education, Bryan managed to leverage his skills and experience into a strategy that works.

Check out this episode to learn how a real estate education can open new doors on YOUR multifamily journey!

Contact Bryan:

You can schedule a visit with Bryan at his Park Plaza property and learn more about his strategy and outlook! 800-535-2476

For more info on the Buy It, Rent It, Profit Summit and other resources, visit the Landlord Academy website.

Ep. 112 Courtney Barnard: Legislative Update for Multifamily-Residential Property Owners

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multifamily-residential property legislative updateWe’ve been hearing a lot about Florida’s single family property markets, but what about multifamily-residential property?

Though multifamily-residential may not share the same spotlight that single family is getting, apartment investing makes up a big economic portion of Florida’s real estate market and there are some big legislative changes coming to multifamily residential property that investors need to be aware of.

We are glad to have Courtney Barnard back on the show. Courtney serves as the Government Affairs Director for the Florida Apartment Association (FAA). Courtney appeared previously, in episode 42, where she discussed then-current legislative updates to multifamily-residential property.

This time, she discusses some key changes coming with the 2016 legislative updates. This episode, Courtney also gives us a Florida multifamily market overview in addition to sharing important legislative updates for multifamily-residential property owners.

Florida Multifamily-Residential Property Overview

  • Jacksonville – largest apartment growth (new construction)
  • Sarasota/Bradenton – decline in growth
  • Over 96% occupancy statewide
  • New construction focused on Class A and Class Super A – $145k/unit costs
  • Lack of affordable multifamily developments

Legislative Updates

  • HVAC Maintenance
    • House Bill 535, July 2016
    • Apartment investors with 100 unit or more buildings
    • HVAC repairs can now be made by on-site building maintenance and not HVAC contractor
    • Bill Info
  • Non-Residential Property Tax Exemptions
    • 10% cap on non-residential property tax increases set to expire in 2018
    • No cap could hurt a lot of investors and small-business owners
    • Joint resolution to be put forth to reinstate cap permanently
  • Fire Sprinklers in Building
    • Florida administration code-change from National Fire Protection Standard
    • Takes effect Dec. 31st, 2016
    • High-rises over 75 feet required to have sprinklers in residences and common areas
    • Previously, buildings built before 1994 were exempt
    • Condos + Co-ops can vote to opt out, but apartment investors must comply UNLESS: balconies/secondary entrances are attached to every unit

Florida Apartment Association

The FAA has been in place for 45 years. With 11 regional chapters and over 5,000 apartment communities, the FAA offers members access to great benefits:

To find out more resources offered by the FAA and for other updates from Courtney, visit www.faahq.org.