Lawrence Fassler

  • Lawrence Fassler, an attorney and real estate investor, is Corporate Counsel of RealtyShares, a leading real estate investment marketplace that places equity investments through North Capital Private Securities Corporation; a registered Securities broker-dealer, and member of FINRA/SIPC. RealtyShares as an institution does not advise on any legal issues, and this article is for general information only and does not represent professional legal advice. Contact the author at lawrence@realtyshares.com.

Alternative Financing Solutions: Why Crowd Investors are the Financiers of the Future

Alternative Financing Solutions: Why Crowd Investors are the Financiers of the Future

| Article | Topics
I’ve hinted in recent articles at how real estate crowdfunding (and crowd investors) may well become the primary financing source for active real estate investors. Why? Because it better fills the needs of both those active investors and the thousands (maybe eventually millions) of ordinary “passive” investors who want to ...
Equity Financing in Real Estate Deals

Equity Financing in Real Estate Deals

| Article | Topics
I’ve written before about one investor’s borrowing experience with crowdfunding lenders, but in this column, let’s take a look at what things look like on the equity side. The equity financing capabilities usually come on with larger commercial projects. Single-family projects, for example, don’t usually get additional equity financing unless ...
7 Traits of Good Flippers

7 Traits of Good Flippers

| Article | Market & Trends
A number of active real estate investors have developed lucrative careers by investing in less-than-perfect residential properties, renovating them and re-selling (or renting) them for a profit. The real estate market has now turned around, and although foreclosures are on the decline, good fix-and-flip deals remain available. From my vantage ...
Fully Funded

One Investor’s Borrowing Experience

| Article, Topics
Home prices have now stabilized, and most observers see the market as continuing to rise at a modest pace. Active investors are coming back to the market, and are back in the swing of buying distressed properties, doing quick rehabs and selling them for a profit. An aftershock of the ...
How to Apply for Financing Quickly and Easily

How to Apply for Financing Quickly and Easily

| Article, Topics
Many investors have developed a lucrative career by investing in less-than-perfect residential or commercial properties, renovating them and re-selling (or renting) them for a profit. The real estate market has now turned around, and although foreclosures are on the decline, good fix-and-flip deals remain available. If you’re such an investor, ...
7 steps on how to negotiate a short sale with banks

7 steps on how to negotiate a short sale with banks

| Article | Topics
For active real estate investors, “short sales” can be a key source of investment opportunities. They’re less common now, but short sales are still important in many regions that are still working through foreclosure backlogs. Yet short sales can be difficult transactions; the lender must accept less than the total ...
7 traits of good flippers and some tips and borrowing options blog by Lawrence Fassler

7 traits of good flippers

| Article | Topics
Investor rehabs: Some tips, and borrowing options A number of active real estate investors have developed lucrative careers by investing in less-than-perfect residential properties, renovating them and re-selling or flipping (or renting) them, for a profit. The real estate market has now turned around, and although foreclosures are on the ...
Hybrid financing and mezzanine instruments in real estate financing

Hybrid financing and “mezzanine” instruments in real estate financing

| Article, Topics
“Mezzanine” finance is a bit like it sounds – something in between two “regular” floors. In department stores like Fields and Macy’s, the mezzanine floor was often used for just about everything in between the women’s and men’s displays on the 1st and 2nd floors. In real estate finance and ...
How to share ownership and get additional funding for your bigger real estate investment projects

How to look for other investors to share ownership and get additional funding

| Article, Topics
Only rarely will a lender cover 100% of a property’s cost. Lenders generally want owners to retain some “skin in the game.” But you may not have enough cash (or don’t want) to cover the rest of the money needed. In these cases, investors need to look for other investors ...
Debt Financing and getting that loan

Debt financing and getting that loan is not simple: who will loan on investment properties?

| Article, Topics
Quick and consistent access to debt financing is a key component of successful real estate investing. Investors are often surprised, then, when their borrowing process hits roadblocks. Who will loan on investment properties? Perhaps surprisingly, getting a loan on a “flip” or other investment property is not always as simple ...
I need money for my real estate investiment property but what kind blog by Lawrence Fassler

I need money for my real estate investment property financing – but what kind?

| Article, Topics
As I discussed in my most recent article, there are plenty of reasons why real estate investors may use “leverage” – other people’s money – to earn a higher return on their own investment. There are a lot of different potential routes to take, though, when one is trying to ...
Debt

4 Reasons Investors use Debt to Finance Real Estate

| Article | Funding, Operations, Topics
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be…” How could Shakespeare be wrong? Why should anyone take out debt, or other financing, on their real estate investments? Well, the quote from Hamlet is that of a father warning his son about the dangers of lending to friends, since hitching debt onto personal ...
How does real estate crowdfunding work for apartments and commercial properties? blog by Lawrence Fassler for Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine

How real estate crowdfunding works for apartments and commercial properties

| Article, Topics
I’ve written before about the basics of peer-to-peer—also called crowdfunding—real estate marketplaces. When it comes to debt investments, many of the first few companies in this space focused on lending to active “flippers” who were renovating single-family homes. This is still a great business, and there are lots of reasons ...
Discounts for distressed properties improved in February blog by Lawrence Fassler for Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine

Discounts for distressed properties good news for fix and flippers in February

| Article | Topics
With the fix and flip market successful in some parts of the country and not others, flippers should pay attention to the available inventory of distressed properties in the markets where they want to invest. These figures can factor directly into a project’s return on investment for the fix and ...
6 reasons online lenders may be easier to work with blog by Lawrence Fassler

6 reasons online lenders may be easier for investors to work with

| Article, Topics
Many banks are just not focused on investment property loans, as I discussed in my previous blog for Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine. For rehab investors, a good alternative can be the new online “peer-to-peer” real estate marketplaces, which are often focused on rehab situations. These companies (and I would ...
Getting the money to finance your rehab property Lawrence Fassler blog

Getting the money to finance your rehab property

| Article, Topics
Real estate investors are often surprised when their borrowing process hits roadblocks in the finance area. Many banks are just not focused on investment property loans. They often want plain-vanilla, owner-occupied mortgages. That’s their usual business. It’s certainly possible for investors to establish a relationship with a smaller bank that ...
This house is one of three properties north of Seattle that Lawrence invested in using peer-to-peer lending or crowdfunding blog by Lawrence Fassler

How crowdfunding, or peer-to-peer lending, can help the active real estate investor

| Article | Operations
In my last article, I talked with you about how crowdfunding, or the use of peer-to-peer marketplaces, is beginning to change the way accredited real estate  investors can participate in real estate projects. Peer-to-peer marketplaces, and crowdfunding,  also affect how regular real estate investors can get financing for their own ...
How crowdfunding or peer-to-peer lending can help the active investor blog by Lawrence Fassler

How crowdfunding, or peer-to-peer lending, can help the active real estate investor

| Article, Topics
In my last article, I talked with you about how crowdfunding, or the use of peer-to-peer marketplaces, is beginning to change the way accredited real estate  investors can participate in real estate projects. Peer-to-peer marketplaces, and crowdfunding,  also affect how regular real estate investors can get financing for their own ...
The flexibility crowdfunding gives me as an investor blog by Lawrence Fassler

The flexibility crowdfunding gives me as an investor

| Article, Topics
Crowdfunding has enabled me to get into real investment opportunities that I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to do. I have participated in crowd-funded investments, including some investment in debt related to first-lien mortgages. Also, I have invested in secured loan funds and directly into an industrial property in the ...