Long Term Professional & Experienced Real Estate Investing Without The Hassles Of Management
Michael Moulton
Michael started his corporate career in the GE Information Leadership Program and went on to hold many global roles such as a Global IT Manager & Certified 6 Sigma Black Belt. He also led many business integrations & e-commerce teams. He has lived and worked in Europe & Asia. In 2005 he officially “fired” his manager and launched his real estate brokerage and investment companies. He and his team have developed and executed many real estate investment strategies over the years. As a managing member of Optimistic Venture Group, Michael strives to provide his investors with stable cash flow returns and long term capital appreciation. Michael has renovated, flipped, converted, acquired and sold over $30 million in real estate. He has also been involved in the ownership and management of more than $23 Million dollars worth of commercial and residential properties.
Michael and his team operate out of the Charlotte, NC market. He has a number of investment companies he owns & operates as well as a brokerage. His companies focus on deals that provide high margin and/or long-term passive income in single/multi-family housing and self storage facilities..
Frequently Asked Questions
We currently invest in multi-family apartment buildings, self storage facilities & single family homes (existing and new construction). Multi-family and Self Storage are one of the most recession proof segments of the Real Estate Market, particularly with the United States population continuing to expand. People will always need clean, affordable housing and places to store their possessions through the transition. Our niche is that we focus on B+ to C+ class multi-family properties and prefer B class in A markets and C+ class in B markets. We believe this positions us in the segment of the market that is shielded most from the ups and downs in the economic cycles. We will also review distressed A class deals in markets with 1MM+ populations
To qualify as an accredited investor, a person must demonstrate an annual income of $200,000, or $300,000 for joint income, for the last two years with expectation of earning the same or higher income. An individual must have earned income above the thresholds either alone or with a spouse over the last three years. Or A person is also considered an accredited investor if he has a net worth exceeding $1 million, either individually or jointly with his spouse excluding personal home.
We have an extremely effective direct to seller marketing process which has enabled us to create relationships across the country that yield a selection of off market opportunities. We also leverage key relationships with commercial brokers in the Mid-West and Eastern US, who bring us deals often before they go on the open market. Once presented with an opportunity our team then underwrites ever single property to the highest standards and eliminates those that do not qualify at our rigorous standards.
This is an exciting point. Over a 5-year period it is our goal to have our properties not be more than 50-60% leveraged. While we start out with a 75%-80% leverage based on purchase price, we decrease that ratio rapidly by actively paying down the loan and by forcing appreciation of the property through value add improvements, superior management, and rent increases, leading to a 5-year loan to value ratio of no more than 60%. This conservative approach provides additional buffer from the ups and downs of the real estate market.
Yes, investing in Multi-family in a structure like ours is perfect for retirement plan investing because your involvement is by definition passive. All you need to do, if you haven’t already, is set up a SELF-DIRECTED IRA with an independent custodian, like Equity Trust Company (www.trustetc.com) or Quest IRA (www.questira.com) and once that is done you can invest using your IRA/401K/ROTH-IRA… or several other self-directed retirement account forms. If you have questions about how to do that, please contact us through the Contact US form or call us at (704) 885-0488.
Deal Timing – The 5 Year Perspective
We follow the following formula which allows us to execute our core strengths over a 5 year period
Why does a deal take 5 years before sale?
1st year we fix all the broken items on property
2nd year we fix the broken tenants
3rd-5th year we maximize the property as a well managed rising income story that salable on autopilot.
