025 Building a Multi-million Dollar Apartment Building Business with Joe Fairless
I love to interview successful real estate investors on the InvestFourMore Real Estate Podcast. Joe Fairless is another very successful investors who built his wealth through large apartment buildings and has done it very quickly. Joe was in the advertising business in New York City when he decided real estate investing was the career path he wanted to take. Joe lived very frugally to save money in order to invest in real estate and it paid off big time. Joe invested in single family homes, but made his biggest profits on large multifamily apartment complexes. Joe and I talk all about how he got started and what his plans are for the future.
Why did Joe Fairless want to get started in real estate after succeeding in the corporate world?
Joe started out in the advertising industry in New York City and climbed his way to a vice president position. In face, he was the youngest vice president ever at his agency and was making decent money. However, Joe read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and got he entrepreneurial bug. He decided real estate was the business he needed to be in and started buying rental properties in Dallas. He ended up buying four rentals in the Dallas area while he was living in New York.
How was Joe able to buy four rental properties at a very young age?
Joe contributes his early investing success to sacrifice. He was making good money in New York, but New York is also a very expensive place to live. While many of Joe’s friends were spending money as soon as they made it, Joe was saving every penny he could. He lived in the cheapest apartment he could find and always had roommates, even if there was not exactly enough space for a roommate. Because Joe saved his money, it was much easier for him to buy rental properties and build for his future.
Why did Joe pick Dallas to invest in?
Jo admits he did not do a complicated investment analysis on Dallas. He simply grew up in the area and knew it well. He had family in the area who could help him oversee his properties and he did not have to learn an entire market from scratch. Joe has since invested in many others areas of the country and now does a much more in-depth analysis. He likes to look at multiple factors:
- How diverse is the economy?
- Are people moving in or out?
- Are there real estate deals in the area and low enough prices to make sense?
- Does he have any connections in the area to help him learn the market?
All of these factors help Joe decide where he should invest money and where he should not.
Why did Joe move from single family properties to multifamily?
A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Michael Blank. He invests in large multifamily complexes and so does Joe. They both see the value in buying large complexes that can produce a lot of money. Both investors use other people’s money to buy the largest complexes they can find. Joe makes his money buy managing the asset, finding the deal and coming up with exit strategies. His investors can expect a steady return on the money they invest with Joe.
Joe feels he can make more money, faster with large complexes than he can buying single family rental properties. But, it is not an easy task to buy large complexes. He has bought properties in multiple cities, because he must go where the deals are. It also takes months to put a deal together and get the financing needed to buy the property.
Once Joe buys the property he adds value by putting money onto the complex. He works to remodel units so that he can raise rents and increase the value of the property.
What are Joe’s real estate goals for the future?
“The goal is to control a billion dollars’ worth of property before my 40th birthday and I’m 33 years old. Right now I control $21 million, I don’t know what percent of the way I am there but I’ve got some work to do. That’s the goal, a lot of it is going to be buy and hold over the long run and that’s kind of the approach I’m going to take.”
That’s right, Joe wants to control one billion dollars of real estate! That’s a huge goal, but the way Joe has been going lately I think he can get there. His plan to reach one billion in real estate is to only buy complexes with over 250 units.
What else is Joe up to and how can you reach him?
Joe not only is a very successful real estate investor, but he also has his own podcast. The Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever is one of the top real estate podcasts. You can also reach him at Joefairless.com or email him at [email protected].