Ever since I was a little girl I was fascinated by seeing the renovation of distressed houses into beautiful homes that made the whole neighborhood look better. I remember, when I was 9 years old, seeing a house in my neighborhood go through what seemed to me at the time a miraculous transformation.
I wondered how that happened and it interested me so much that I asked my parents if we could get into real estate so we could fix up distressed homes and make them nice places to live again. Although they didn’t want to take that route, a spark came alive in me that continues to motivate me to this day.
I was a Girl Scout from 1st grade through graduating high school. Through community service projects we did, including sponsoring underprivileged families during the holiday season, my eyes were opened to the importance of being of service to the community. This taught me how important it is to respect all people regardless of their situation and how to help them without impinging on their dignity
Because I wanted to be of service, I chose to major in Social Work while I was in college. This gave me the tools I use every day to communicate effectively with distressed homeowners and those who are in financial distress.
All of these experiences throughout my life made me want to be a go-to person to help people which led me to create Black Girls Buy Houses so, as Gandhi said, I could be the change I wished to see.
What also led me into real estate was the death of my parents at a young age. Having to go through probate at the age of 20 made me realize that many people don’t understand how that works and the divisions it can create within families.
That experience helped me realize that understanding real estate is important. I provide free consultations so that people aren’t blindsided by unexpected circumstances like death and illness. This is especially important to me because these things aren’t taught in our culture – we only learn about death when it happens, not before, which leads many families to be unprepared and without a plan.
Yes, Black Girls Buy Houses works with investors to buy single and multi-family houses for cash to help individuals who find themselves in difficult financial situations. And, the life experiences I’ve shared with you explain why we are also working with investors to create affordable housing via apartment syndication.
The purpose of this blog is to tell you how apartment syndication can build sustainable communities and why should consider becoming an investor. But first, I should explain what apartment syndication is.
What is Apartment Syndication?
Basically, apartment syndication is the pooling of money from numerous investors that is used to buy an apartment building and execute the project’s business plan.
Usually, apartment syndication is best used when buying large apartment buildings or communities that would be difficult or impossible for individual investors to purchase and handle on their own. It allows companies like mine to pool our resources with others and share risks and returns.
Investing through apartment syndication frequently involves partial investments from multiple limited partners. With the exception of tax management, a limited partner is a passive investor. Limited partners are not involved in the management of a syndication investment property. The largest investor benefit of apartment syndication is that, unlike the stock market, it provides a low risk, stable, and predictable return on investment.
A lot of people would love to benefit from owning an appreciating asset, like an apartment complex, that provides cash flow and a fixed rate of return. However, very few people have the ability (time, expertise, money, etc.) to purchase a big apartment complex on their own. This is why joining a real estate investment group makes so much sense.
How Can Apartment Syndication Increase Affordable Housing?
Now that you have an understanding of the basics of apartment syndication you might be wondering how buying, rehabbing, and renting the apartments can help increase affordable housing. It’s no secret that there is an affordable housing crisis in America. I see apartment syndication as an excellent way to address this problem. Here’s how.
There are apartment buildings in America that are run down and mostly, if not totally, vacant. Formerly those buildings were supported by market rate paying tenants. But now, no one who could afford to pay market rate rent would live there.
Often times the owner either doesn’t have the resources or doesn’t want to spend the money to restore them. What they want to do is get rid of something they perceive to be a problem.
Black Girls Buy Houses, together with allies, puts together an investment group to purchase and rehabilitate the property. Working with local authorities, we convert the property into Section 8 housing.
If you don’t already know, Section 8 housing is specifically designated for tenants, like lower income people and senior citizens, who can’t afford market rate housing. Read on and you’ll see how this doesn’t impact investor returns but actually helps to ensure an excellent rate of return by lowering the individual investors’ risk.
While that explains how we can help address the affordable housing crisis, it doesn’t necessarily clarify how apartment syndication can build community.
How Apartment Syndication Builds Community
My experience has shown me that when people have a nice place to live it instills a sense of pride in them. In turn, this sense of pride, leads to people taking care of their home. I know that sounds simple but it’s true; when you have a nice place to live you want it to stay nice.
In contrast, think about properties that are owned by landlords who don’t provide a quality living environment. They don’t, unless forced to by the authorities after long and drawn out proceedings, do necessary maintenance and let their property fall into disrepair. It’s easy to see how people living in that situation would have no pride of place and wouldn’t expend the effort to take care of their apartment.
When living in a nice apartment, even renters develop a sense of ownership. This shared sense of ownership among the tenants brings people together who are determined to keep their building in great shape thereby they develop a strong sense of positive community.
Okay, so you see how apartment syndication is an excellent way to build high quality and sustainable affordable housing. And, how the pride instilled in people leads to creating a strong sense of community among the residents. But, you may be wondering if investing in the creation of affordable housing is profitable.
Is Apartment Syndication a Good Investment Decision?
As you’re only advancing small sums on each project, apartment syndication gives you the opportunity to diversify your investment portfolio. Moreover, as an investor, syndication is one of the safest passive investment ideas that require little upfront effort on your part for a stable and predictable return on investment.
Apartment syndication is a way for you to get access to institutional grade investments, the type of ventures that used to only be available to the largest of institutional investors. So, yes, buying, selling, and owning apartments via real estate syndication can be a profitable business venture.
And, as Section 8 housing rents are subsidized by the federal government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), your investment return is both stable and guaranteed. The tenants pay a percentage of their income for rent and HUD makes up the difference so that each apartment has a tenant that is essentially paying market-value rent.
Clearly, I believe that apartment syndication offers one of the best investment opportunities today and is part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis plaguing our country. Hopefully you agree and want to take the next step and join our investor group.
How I Can Get Involved?
Soon, I will have a page on my website specifically for people who want to invest with Black Girls Buy Houses in apartment syndication deals. Information about single and multi-family investment properties will also be listed there. All you’ll have to do is complete an investor pre-qualifying questionnaire to be granted access to my investor portal. I’ll post an updated blog when it’s all ready.
In the meantime, I’m available to talk with you about getting on the road to become an investor in apartment syndication deals that I’m already involved with. Black Girls Buy Houses also works with investors looking for single and multi-family houses to buy. If you’d like to talk about investment opportunities click here to schedule an appointment. I’m looking forward to working with you!