378: A $500M Syndicator's View on Today's Market and How to Succeed as a "Hands-Off Investor" with Brian Burke

With a recession already underway, we're turning to an investor with 30 years of experience, 3,000-plus multifamily units acquired, and one of the sharpest minds in real estate. Brian Burke is back today, and he sits down with Brandon and David to offer his interpretation of current events and to guide our audience through how to invest passively without violating Warren Buffett's No. 1 rule: "Never Lose Money!" Brian explains how his firm Praxis Capital is navigating COVID-19 and shares a few tips everyday investors can use to fortify their portfolios. We also discuss leverage, how lending practices are changing, and techniques you can use today to safeguard your investments against vacancy and drops in valuation. In the second half of the show, Brian speaks to those interested in becoming "hands-off" investors—whether you want to focus on making money in your day job or just don't want to deal with being a landlord. After all, BiggerPockets has 10-plus books on how to actively get deals done... but none (until now) on how to evaluate passive investment opportunities. We go over how to meet syndicators, what red flags to look for, how to diversify your investments... and the absolute No. 1 quality to look for in a passive investment (hint: it's NOT the deal itself). This episode is packed with deep insights into the current market shift, but it's also a timeless lesson in evaluating syndication opportunities. For more info, check out Brian's new book, The Hands-Off Investor: An Insider's Guide to Investing in Passive Real Estate Syndications, and all the great bonus content, too. In This Episode We Cover:How Brian got his start raising capital from his cop buddies"Bulletproof vests" investors can use to survive right nowBrian's definition of "over-leveraged"Why Brian is currently more focused on operations than acquisitionsHow government stimulus $ may affect the real estate marketHow and where passive investors meet syndicatorsThe #1 quality passive investors should look for in a syndicatorWhy the deal sponsor is more important than the deal itselfDiversifying your passive investment portfolioRed flags to look for when evaluating syndicatorsWhy "alignment of interests" is overratedThe lesson he learned from a friend who lost her life savingsLinks from the ShowBiggerPockets ForumsBiggerPockets WebinarsBiggerPockets Business PodcastReal Estate Rookie PodcastBiggerPockets Money PodcastBiggerPockets Radio Podcast 003: Getting Started in Real Estate and Raising Money with Brian BurkeBiggerPockets Podcast 076: Growing Your Real Estate Company Into a $30 Million Dollar Business with Brian BurkeBiggerPockets Podcast 152: Building Wealth and Passive Income with Rental Properties with Ben Leybovich, Brian Burke, and Serge ShukhatBiggerPockets Podcast 315: How to Read Human Nature to Succeed in Life with Bestselling Author Robert GreeneBiggerPockets BRRRR GuideBiggerPockets BookstoreCheck the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/show378