Lifestyle

3 Myths About Owning An Apartment Complex

Published

4 years ago

July 11, 2021

Investing in apartment complexes can result in outstanding returns. Some surveys have found that owning a commercial investment property can net a 9.75% return per year!

Several myths about owning commercial real estate tend to discourage investors from taking the plunge, however. Consider the misconceptions below before you decide on owning an apartment complex.

And remember, you can rely on an experienced property management company to help you manage your investment and make your life a lot easier.

It Costs Too Much

It’s inarguable that most apartment complexes cost anywhere from $500,000 to multiple millions. But if you think that means you must be independently wealthy before you can invest, that’s not the case.

There are many excellent financing options that can enable you to buy apartment buildings and other commercial real estate. You will have to furnish a down payment in the range between 5% and 20% of the price of the building, but you can usually finance the rest at a low interest rate.

Your personal credit may be a factor in whether you receive the loan, but it’s more important for you to show that the property will generate enough cash flow to cover your mortgage and expenses. Also, you should have a sufficient amount of remaining funds for repairs and your profit.

The FHA offers several fantastic financing options with low down payments and interest rates for apartment complexes, so make sure to ask your loan officer about that financing option. But remember, you should have plenty of cash reserves in the bank when you buy an apartment complex so you’re ready for any unexpected expenses that come up.

Strong Housing Market Damages Apartment Demand

We are seeing strong demand for single-family homes in the US in 2021. So apartment demand must be plunging, right?

If this were true, apartment demand would have dropped during the real estate boom that peaked in 2005 and 2006. But demand for apartments rose alongside housing demand during this period. Why is that?

Evidence suggests that when the housing market is strong, demand rises for all kinds of living spaces, from houses to condos to apartments. There are many reasons for that, but most of it boils down to the health of the economy in general.

The same factors that lead to a strong housing market create demand for apartments to rise as well. So if you own an apartment complex and you see houses selling like hotcakes in your city, you can expect increased demand for your apartments. You might even be able to raise rents!

You Can Do Your Own Repairs

One way to save money when you own investment properties is to do the repairs yourself. This can be a great strategy if you know how to handle common maintenance issues, such as fixing the plumbing, minor electrical problems, etc.

But when you own an apartment complex, you may find yourself having to spend far too much of your time repairing the building than on other parts of your business. Even if you have the skill to do the repairs, your time has value.

There are other tasks that you may want to focus on to grow your business. This is why many apartment complex owners hire a property management company to handle the day-to-day needs of running an apartment building.

Your property managers can do everything from screening tenants to collecting rent to repairing the toilets. That frees you up to devote your energies to other parts of your business, and you’ll have more time to see your kids too!

Owning an apartment complex can generate outstanding cash flow for you, but it’s necessary to understand all the ramifications of ownership. If you keep the above myths in mind, you’ll have a better chance of owning a profitable building.

Lifestyle

Derik Fay: The Quiet Architect of Impact-First Entrepreneurship

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2025

Michelle Langton

In an era where noise often overshadows results, Derik Fay is quietly shaping a different kind of legacy — one built not on showmanship, but on undeniable substance. For more than two decades, Fay has engineered the rise of over 30 companies across industries as diverse as real estate, technology, healthcare, and entertainment. Yet his name rarely leads headlines — not because he hasn’t earned it, but because he never needed it to validate his success.

Growing up in Rhode Island, Fay learned early that the world rarely hands out opportunity; it must be seized, created, and multiplied. While many of his peers pursued traditional paths, he took a risk that would define the rest of his life: at just 22, he founded 3F Management, a venture firm with an entirely different mission — to build companies that would outlast trends, outperform markets, and, most importantly, out-impact their competition.

Instead of obsessing over short-term wins, Fay approached entrepreneurship like a craftsman. Much like Henry Ford, who famously said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business,” Fay built companies that weren’t just profitable — they were purposeful. Every venture was designed to create real, sustainable value, both for shareholders and for the communities they served.

Through his relentless focus on structure and leadership, Fay’s ecosystem of businesses now touches thousands of lives daily — from employees finding new opportunities to entrepreneurs gaining the mentorship they never had before. But unlike typical moguls who boast about headcounts, Fay views every job created as a ripple in a larger mission: empowering individuals to write better futures for themselves.

Where others have scaled fast and crashed harder, Fay’s model thrives on foundations few are patient enough to build anymore. His method is slower, smarter, and almost surgical: find what others overlook, fix what others fear, and grow what others abandoned too early. It’s this principle that led him to not just build companies — but to resurrect them, reimagine them, and sometimes even walk away if the mission no longer aligned with the impact he envisioned.

Fay’s philosophy extends far beyond boardrooms. Philanthropy isn’t a checkbox at the end of his success story — it’s embedded into the way he scales. His ventures are built with giving back written into their DNA, from local community initiatives to broader mentorship platforms that help emerging entrepreneurs get their first real shot at success. His life’s work is proof that wealth and generosity are not mutually exclusive — they are, in fact, essential partners.

Today, while newer generations of entrepreneurs hustle for likes and magazine covers, Fay’s name is whispered in rooms where real power moves. His reputation — built quietly but relentlessly — is that of a man who delivers, builds, and elevates without the need for public validation.

In a business world increasingly built on spectacle, Derik Fay reminds us that the most lasting legacies are forged not in the glare of the spotlight, but in the thousands of lives changed quietly along the way.

For more insights into Derik Fay’s ventures and philanthropic efforts, visit www.derikfay.com and follow him on Instagram @derikfay