‘At the end, you’re trying to find your highest and best use. How can you effectively create value based on your limited time?’
Perhaps you’re interested in getting into multifamily, but syndication is not for you. If your strengths lie in networking and raising money, you can get into apartment building investing as a general partner who specializes in soliciting capital.
Based in Hawaii, Lane Kawaoka still works his day job as an engineer, but he is quickly growing passive income streams via multi-family investing. After graduating from college with a degree in engineering, he got a job in construction management that required a lot of travel. In 2009, Lane bought a primary residence in Seattle—but he was never there. He decided to rent out his A-class property, and the cashflow generated from that enterprise inspired him to purchase more.
From there, Lane expanded his single-family portfolio, eventually discovering turnkey rentals. Today he is pursuing multi-family, recently landing his first 190-unit deal. But Lane is working deals from a different angle, coming in as the general partner who specializes in raising capital. On this episode, he shares his unique multi-family strategy, explaining how his Simple Passive Cashflow blog and podcast position him as a thought-leader in the space and afford the opportunity to network. Listen in to learn how Lane is compensated as the money-raiser, and hear his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs about building a platform that establishes your credibility as a multi-family investor!
Lane Kawaoka – Key Takeaways
[2:30] How Lane got into real estate
- Engineer in construction management
- Rarely at primary residence, traveling for work
- Decided to rent, then purchase more
- Stumbled on turnkey rentals
- Working to build passive income streams
[6:11] Why Lane made the shift to multifamily
- Tired of ‘managing the managers’
- Realized single-family not scalable
[7:33] Why Lane was slow to get started in multi-family
- No substantial net worth, experience
- Thought had to be lead
- Finally paid mentor to help
[8:33] The four parts necessary to do a multi-family deal
- Net worth
- Raising money
- Experience
- Finding deal
[9:24] How Lane leverages his blog and podcast
- Tired of answering same questions about single-family
- Started blog/podcast to address those questions
- Good avenue for building relationships with like-minded people
- Platform adds to credibility
[10:20] Lane’s approach to finding deals
- Slow start (18 months)
- Contact junior associates on brokerage websites
[11:58] Lane’s first multi-family deal
- Came together in last six months
- 190-unit in Texas
- Came in as passive investor
[13:36] Lane’s multi-family strategy
- Not interested in being syndicator
- Multi-family game so big, specialization is necessary
- Talent lies in raising money
[15:09] How Lane is compensated as the money-raiser
- Receives promo raise rate
- Get in as general partner (passive income stream)
[15:55] Lane’s strength in accessing capital
- High net-worth network
- Would rather spend time on podcast than analyzing deals
[17:36] Lane’s multi-family strategy moving forward
- Build syndication business, portfolio
- Get people out of ‘Wall Street roller coaster’
- Raise capital, invest alongside
[19:37] Lane’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
- Build track record
- Create platform as thought-leader (video, audio, blog, meetups)
- Find your strengths and double down
Connect with Lane Kawaoka
Email [email protected]
Resources
Free eBook: The Secret to Raising Money to Buy Your First Apartment Building
