Ep. 103: From Passive Investor to General Partner with Jens Nielsen

After reviewing his portfolio, Jens (pronounced Yenz) Nielsen realized he needed a backup plan in case he ever lost his job. Born in Denmark, Jens currently lives in Durango, Colorado. He has invested in over 800 apartments, 500 mobile park lots and over 4,500 storage units. He made the transition from passive investor to general partner and will share his key lessons learned on today’s episode.

Key Market Insights

• Grew up in Denmark, moved to London and then to the US
• Realized he needed to shift strategies and get into real estate
• Reached out to a good friend and his friend educated him on real estate
• Asked him, “who do you know that I should know?”
• Connected him with a broker in Albuquerque
• Within 4 months, he closed on his first 4-plex
• Started looking at his IRA and began investing opportunities from listening to podcasts or searching BiggerPockets
• Started investing in note funds, before doing apartment syndications
• Expanded into mobile home parks
• Realized there was no appreciation with notes, so wanted the capital event with the sale of apartments
• Market Selection Criteria – Seeks population growth, job growth, friendly business environment
• Hesitant to work with someone who does not have a track record
• Advice to passive investors: dig into the property and business plan
• Lived in Albuquerque and felt it was the best place to start as it’s a linear market and was the closest big city to home
• Partnered with a PM/Broker and thought the market lagged the recovery
• Netflix is moving North America Production to Albuquerque, business-friendly and tax incentives
• Apartment deals in Dallas-Fort Worth, mobile home parks in Arizona and self-storage scattered throughout
• Mobile home parks – focused on areas where people move
• JV venture on a 38-unit in Albuquerque
• Albuquerque – Knob Hill, Northeast Heights near Eastern Mountains

Bull’s Eye Tips:

Winning Your Market: Understand the economic drivers

Tracking Market Changes: Google Alerts

Daily Habit: Miracle Morning Routine

Resources:

Best Business Books:

Deep Change by Robert E Quinn

Digital Resources

BiggerPockets

Tweet This:

“Who do you know that I should know?”

“Dig into the property and business plan”

Places to Grab a Bite:

El Pinto in North Valley

Connect with Jens:

Website: Opendoorscapital.com

Email: jens@opendoorscapital.com

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