Multifamily investors: What has contributed to your growth?
I can do it In one word “Tenacity”! You just have to keep pushing forward no matter how hard it gets, and be willing to do what ever it takes! I would say the biggest thing that got my wife and I from our first 5 unit 12 years ago to 91 units / 15 garages / 20 parking spaces now, is the commitment to keep expenses as low as possible and keep re investing all profits for the first 10 years. We did all the maintenance , upgrades , and management for the 1st 10 years. I know it’s not for everyone, but that’s how we grew to 8 million in assets , and a 70k Per month gross rental income.
We were able to grow and invest in over 9,000 multifamily units by developing a specific investment strategy and identifying accretive partnerships where we could leverage our partners experience to fast-track our own track record. The next crucial step was to be persistent and execute the plan.
Renovation. Renovation. Renovation. The numbers don't make sense when you first look at it and the only reason I took this path is because I had money to burn and it was fun. In the long-run it has turned out to be wildly beneficial financially. Benefits: 1) after the renovation I can raise rent by 100-300/mo per unit, 2) the tenants take better care of the unit, 3) longer stays, 4) referrals so no advertising and minimal downtime between renters (last one had over 300 applicants), 5) every single one of my renovated units continued to pay thru the pandemic, 6) no evictions in renovated homes, 7) ROI of the building as a whole improves. Tenants plant bulbs outside their unit, clean and take care of their space. Renovation is contagious. If I had been tight with funds from the get-go the houses would look very different today. I am proud of my buildings and am fulfilling my life's purpose by making homes better. If you're doing it only for the money you're missing the best part.
Stepping up and working on my mental game has helped tremendously. I have noticed that my fear, hesitation, doubt, and negative emotions have negatively impacted my real estate investing game in the past. You can have all the funds and luck but can fail to achieve what you are chasing without the proper mental clarity. 
Thanks for taking a minute to say that. I actually thought I would get someone telling me I don't know what I am talking about. But I've compared my profits with other landlords in this area and this approach is absolutely working. The ones who don't have pride of ownership in their properties are pulling small profits or have big cleanup bills between tenants, or worse, big eviction costs.