HOW I FOUND REAL ESTATE by Gerald Lucas, Founder
I stumbled onto real estate accidentally in 2000 with a little help from my Mom. After I finished grad school, my mother, who is an accountant, told me I should buy a home to take advantage of the tax benefits that property owners enjoy. I thought it was a good idea but I was traveling a lot for work at the time and couldn’t ‘find the time’ to hunt for real estate. Luckily, Mom persisted, visited me on her week off from work and found a local real estate agent who found me some properties for sale in my very limited price range. I had no savings, but made an offer to buy one of the few places I could afford–a small tenant-occupied condo. When my offer was accepted, I had to use a credit card cash advance to come up with the down payment and closing costs.
While I waited for my tenant’s lease to expire so I could move in, I noticed that similar apartments in the neighborhood were renting for significantly more money per month than my tenant had been paying. If I became a landlord and increased my tenant’s rent to the average rent in the area, his new monthly rent payment would cover my mortgage payment, condo fees and leave me with some extra money at the end of each month. At that moment, a light bulb went off in my head and everything changed…
Real estate became my passion–I immediately tried to learn everything I could by reading, studying and implementing a Carlton Sheets real estate course I found and by seeking the advice of experienced real estate investors in my area. I began building a small portfolio of properties by partnering with people who had money to invest–I did all the leg work, used their capital and we split the profits.
Mom thought I was crazy, but in 2002, I took the plunge and became a full time real estate professional. Since then, I’ve developed a half dozen condominium complexes, bought and sold hundreds of properties and launched and operated two real estate funds. Many of the people I’ve coached and mentored over the years have found success investing in real estate, earning income buying and selling property for immediate profit and building wealth over time with rental properties.
Now that I control my time, thanks to real estate, I am able to indulge my three biggest passions: music, travel and serving my community. I play music on a regular basis, I’ve traveled to every continent on earth and to all 50 US states. In 2019, I founded Youth Passion For Music whose proceeds fund musical instruments, instrument repair and music lessons for Jersey City kids and I am a long-time volunteer and supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Founder’s Real Estate Fund Experience:
Performance Property’s founder, Gerald Lucas accurately identified the local real estate market price bottom in early 2011, then partnered with a pension fund to form a REIT where he developed the initial investment strategy, served as Chief Investment Officer, hired the initial team of employees, raised over $100 million of investment capital and oversaw the first $20 million of all property acquisitions. In 2017, Gerald co-founded NNG Capital Fund, a groundbreaking real estate fund that provides protection against market uncertainty by combining residential real estate and mortgage notes. See Gerald’s full bio at www.geraldlucas.com/biography