40 Years of Real Estate Experience with Arn Cenedella

In this episode, Brad chats with Arn Cenedella, founder of Spark Investment Group, who brings over 40 years of real estate experience, including 35 years as a realtor in Silicon Valley. Arn shares his transition from single-family to multi-family real estate investing, the lessons learned from his biggest investing mistake during the 2008 subprime crisis, and his strategy for building long-term wealth. He also discusses the benefits of syndication and how he leverages his experience and network to help others invest in the growing Greenville, South Carolina market.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

• Arn's journey from a residential broker in Silicon Valley to a multi-family syndicator in Greenville, South Carolina.

• The transition from single-family to multi-family investing, and the differences in acquiring commercial versus residential properties.

• The details of his first multi-family deal: a 43-unit property in Greenville, South Carolina, and why having fixed-rate debt was crucial.

• How Arn built his investor pool and gained confidence for his first syndication deal, leveraging his past real estate relationships.

• The scalability of multi-family investing compared to single-family properties.

• Arn's biggest investing mistake: a condo purchase in Hawaii just before the 2008 subprime crisis, and the lesson of not over-leveraging.

• The importance of having cash reserves to ride out market downturns and the long-term outlook on real estate appreciation.

• A "home run" deal involving subdividing a large lot to create significant value.

• Flipping versus wholesaling as entry points for new real estate investors with limited capital.

• An explanation of different types of syndication deals (506b and 506c) and the difference between accredited and sophisticated investors.

💬 Memorable Quotes:

• “If you don't know what you're aiming for, you hit it 100% of the time.” — Arn Cenedella

• “The truth is, if you make investments, occasionally you're going to make mistakes and you're going to have failures.” — Arn Cenedella

• “If an investment's only going to work when things are going perfect, you don't have much protection on the downside.” — Arn Cenedella

• “You’re only in trouble when you need to sell.” — Brad Weaver

Connect with Arn Cenedella:

• Website: https://www.investwithspark.com/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arncenedella/

• Facebook Spark Investment Group - https://www.facebook.com/investwithspark/

Connect with Host Brad Weaver:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradweaver