I built a Real Estate Business.... but the road has been bumpy and have struggled to convert it to FL... It feels very sidewalk..

[bmyers]

Hi all! My quick history:
I studied international business in college. I worked construction for years, then got into sales for about 10 years or so. While working, I bought rental properties and two laundromats. Those led me into apartment buildings, then ground up commercial development of a few apartment buildings. My two business partners and I now own 5 Assisted Living Buildings and are in the process of being acquired by a REIT. The three of us plan to stay on at executive levels in the REIT until it makes sense to step down and collect passive checks. Fingers and toes crossed it all goes as planned. Then I'll be looking for the next thing!

The bumpy parts were mostly: 2008 Financial downturn (I was too highly leveraged). Then a challenging divorce in 2018. Then growing with my business partners (partnerships can be challenging... they are never equal....). I love my two partners, but we've always been equal owners with equal say... that has created a bit of a three headed beast at times.

We are excited about this new chapter that we are entering and look forward to growing a large REIT in the senior living space over the next 5 years.

As excited as I am about my current chapter, I'm more excited to covert my current equity in the REIT into passive checks over the next few years and start over with a more pure Fastlane business strategy.

Stay tuned and I look forward to learning to know many of you as I go forward.

Many thanks to @MJ DeMarco for all the books, newsletters and posts on the Fastlane forum. I love how you think and love your content.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Hi all! My quick history:
I studied international business in college. I worked construction for years, then got into sales for about 10 years or so. While working, I bought rental properties and two laundromats. Those led me into apartment buildings, then ground up commercial development of a few apartment buildings. My two business partners and I now own 5 Assisted Living Buildings and are in the process of being acquired by a REIT. The three of us plan to stay on at executive levels in the REIT until it makes sense to step down and collect passive checks. Fingers and toes crossed it all goes as planned. Then I'll be looking for the next thing!

The bumpy parts were mostly: 2008 Financial downturn (I was too highly leveraged). Then a challenging divorce in 2018. Then growing with my business partners (partnerships can be challenging... they are never equal....). I love my two partners, but we've always been equal owners with equal say... that has created a bit of a three headed beast at times.

We are excited about this new chapter that we are entering and look forward to growing a large REIT in the senior living space over the next 5 years.

As excited as I am about my current chapter, I'm more excited to covert my current equity in the REIT into passive checks over the next few years and start over with a more pure Fastlane business strategy.

Stay tuned and I look forward to learning to know many of you as I go forward.

Many thanks to @MJ DeMarco for all the books, newsletters and posts on the Fastlane forum. I love how you think and love your content.

Great to have you here.

Congrats on the acquisition.

Does the REIT have public shares? Basically, is there potential asymmetry while staying on in EXEC management?

 

[bmyers]

Great to have you here.

Congrats on the acquisition.

Does the REIT have public shares? Basically, is there potential asymmetry while staying on in EXEC management?

Thanks MJ and much appreciated.

The REIT is not public, It is privately held with 9 share holders currently (6 in addition to us). They are well capitalized and have a great growth strategy. The current plan is to grow to between $750MM and $1BN in total assets, then either sell, or go public in about 4-5 years or so. We converted most of our equity (about $7MM) into the REIT. We got $1.4MM in cash, and the rest in shares. (2.1MM shares with a current book value of $3 each). Our 5 buildings are the first ones into the REIT. With their plan of staying leveraged at about 50% LTV, we see a path forward to our shares being worth up to $30 per share before a sale or public offering.

So to me I see an asymmetry between our efforts/equity and our wealth growth. I'm hoping this is the case.

Any thoughts/feedback/concerns are welcome.

Thanks again!