Christian Osgood argues most people don't start with capital or experience, so the path is to find a deal first, then raise money. His friend Caleb Hommel started at 18 with seller-financed deals in Texas and scaled to over 400 apartments without a traditional job.
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You have all these fucking gurus out there that are telling people, save your money, don't buy a primary residence, go invest in a multifamily house. Meanwhile, where the fuck are you going to get the 25% down? A, you're going to go raise it. My ass, you're not raising shit. B, when you go to the bank, the first thing they're going to ask you— I know because I lend money on multifamily projects— do you have experience in multi—
That advice is almost as bad as that suit. However, here's how it actually works. Most people don't inherit their real estate, so almost everyone starts from zero. Now you can save your way there, but that means you're buying single-family houses and duplexes. We all know those really don't make a lot of money and they're a really slow way to invest. So if you want to go buy apartment buildings, I'm not saying buy a 100-unit apartment building, but realistically, you're probably going to start from zero. Is your first deal going to be the hardest? Yeah, probably. But if you find a deal and you line up the debt, all you have to do is find other people who want to make money alongside you, who might have the experience, the money, all the other pieces. Him saying you're not going to raise capital is crazy. Almost everyone can raise capital, but only if you start with the deal. If you start by trying to find the money, yeah, there's no way that's going to happen. If you have the opportunity and you have the business plan, turns out that's how almost everyone gets into multifamily. Take for example my good friend Caleb Hommel. He started at 18 years old. He graduates high school, he does one semester of college, drops out. His only job of all time was DoorDashing. He found one deal, it was seller financed in Texas, so he moves from San Diego to Texas, does 1, 2, then 3 seller finance deals, getting to 28 units. Then he buys a 25, 26, 44, 100 44, 76, 80-unit building, and another 80-unit. But now he all of a sudden has over 400 apartment buildings. He's never had a real job. No one's less qualified than him. So the takeaway here: do you start with a 100-unit apartment building? Does money just fall out of the sky for deals? No, but it's not that complicated. Just deal first, then line up the debt product, then the equity. When you have the deal, the opportunity, and the money to close it, you've now bought your first property. Now you have the experience. Now you're in the club. It's all easier from there.
