Why Good Relationship Matters In Real Estate With Bill Hamel

Bill Hamel has been in multifamily residential real estate for about 27 years. He had been investing in a lot of small properties. As he learned the business and property management and very well through that process, he recently pivoted to focus on scaling into much larger apartment communities.

He currently focuses on commercial multifamily real estate in New York’s Capital Region and the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. He has been actively investing in small to medium size multifamily properties since the 1990s. Over that time, he accumulated and managed a portfolio of 40 properties consisting of 200+ apartments in the Albany, NY market.

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Brett:

Our next guest is an expert when it comes to multifamily and brokerage, as well as ownership and management. He has a vast background. He's out of the great state of New York, he's up in Albany that is, and he's going to share with us really, why good relationships matter in real estate. So please, welcome to the show with me, Bill Hamel, Bill, how are you doing?

Bill:

Very well. Thanks, Brett for having me on.

Brett:

I appreciate it. Excited to get to know you a little bit better. For our listeners to get to know you for the first time, would you please tell us a little bit more about your story and your current focus?

Bill:

Sure, I have been in multifamily residential real estate for about 27 years. So I had been investing a lot of small properties as I learned the business and, you know, learn the property management and very well through that process and recently pivoted to focus on scaling into much larger apartment communities.

Brett:

Excellent. And you know, I believe we've all been given certain gifts, Bill in this life. And these gifts are given to us to be a blessing to others. Some people call them a superpower, some people call them strengths. I want you to go back to that high school days, college days, and I'm curious, what are the maybe one or two gifts that you believe you were given and how did those gifts help how you help and bless other people today?

Bill:

Well, my biggest gap going back was a very strong work ethic. So, you know, that allowed me to, you know, get through some of the trials and tribulations in the early days, considering I bought my first property at 21 years old, you know, I have limited knowledge in the business other than, you know, reading a book and off, I went investing in small rental properties. So those first few years were, you know, learning by mistakes and making sure that I would continue working hard to get past any of those mistakes, until, you know, I was able to develop that expertise.

Brett:

Awesome, love it. So let's dive right into the show of why good relationships matter, in real estate. And so what's the best secret you have, our number one tip, guidance, or wisdom that you can share with us with building good relationships?

Bill:

Well, being in property management and an attendant business, I learned clearly to provide as good of a service as we possibly could to our residents, which are also our customers. So just like any business, the better service you provide, you know, you get your comeback customers in this case, you know, high tenant retention and high tenant referrals, which creates higher profitability and multifamily space, when you aren't turning over apartments and getting people to refer you to their friends and family affect your bottom line.

Brett:

Yeah, 100%, you know, and you have to make sure you're looking out for the long term and the best interest. And so, what have you found to be some of the challenges with you know, COVID-19, and different things, changing with the way relationships are built, in some ways, right, are maintained, and social distancing? So what's been what how have you guys kind of pivoted and tried to continue to build good relationships with, with your clients, and with your customers?

Bill:

Well, and COVID was interesting, we originally, you know, had major concerns of COVID with, you know, tenants having difficulty paying rent. So, you know, that initial challenge which we handled proactively just reaching out to tenants, and letting them know we understand the challenge that is in front of all of us, and we'll do what we can to work with everybody based on you know, their every individual challenge. So, you know, that tied in with the relationship that we created with our tenants initially starting at least signing when we're trying to provide as good of a service as possible and also respecting their most personal space, which is where they live. So, once all of this happened, you know, that type of attention it was was probably expected from our tenants and appreciated and fortunately, which we found out, you know, the rent collection didn't turn into as big of a challenge as we thought it might. So, you know, we just had to work with a small handful of people. And ultimately, you know, real estate got hotter. You know, during COVID, um, you know, which at this point, I think, in 27 years, I've never seen real estate, as hot as it is.

Brett:

Yeah, likewise, we're seeing the same thing here in California. It's I think, most major, you know, metros, it's the sky, high and low inventory, and record prices and multiple offers, which leads into the next question. You're going to be focusing on purchasing, you know, multifamily properties and syndicating deals. So, tell us a little bit about that vision. By the way, we're sticking with Bill Hamel here with hamelrealestate.com. So tell us a little bit about that, Bill.

Bill:

Well, yeah, we had normally been doing joint ventures along the way, which on smaller properties, that's, you know, very routine, especially when, you know, you've made, you know, in my case, you know, probably over 80 purchases over the years from small to medium. And, you know, I guess you could say some larger properties. So, joint ventures had become easy for us. And we've recently, you know, purchasing a 39 unit in about a week, which we're handling the same way we have, and I continue to do the joint venture. You know, that's what we've gotten good at. But as we scale into much larger multifamily, we're certainly going to be investigating and utilizing syndication where, you know, we get some passive investors involved so we're able to, you know, make much larger deals possible.

Brett:

Beautiful. Yeah, I love that. I love multi-family mobile home parks, senior housing assisted living syndications, and I invest in raise funds and buy deals with partners and clients. So I love that you're getting into that. Are you going to be focusing in the Albany, New York low, Metro, or where are you going to be buying it?

Bill:

Well, I'm going to continue to, you know, invest in this Albany, Saratoga, New York area, I've lived here my entire life. So I'm, you know, I'm very well known in the area. And, you know, I know, the markets that I'm willing to invest in. So that familiarity, you know, is super valuable. But we're also looking in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, particularly cannabis County, where we did make a, you know, investment in the summer, utilizing a 1031 exchange on some properties that we had sold in our market looking to get into multifamily, even, you know, here or Pinellas County, so I'm anxious to continue a portfolio in that area.

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