Real estate investors who scaled to 24 units in a year explain why they only buy multifamily properties — and why they're betting on Buffalo

• Connor Swofford and Pieter Louw invest in multifamily properties in Buffalo.
• Specifically, they're looking for three- to 10-unit properties that need renovations.
• They like Buffalo, where the real estate market is booming due to affordability and job growth.

When it comes to real estate, Connor Swofford and Pieter Louw know exactly what they're looking for: multifamily properties with three to 10 units in Buffalo that need a little TLC.

The childhood friends, who met in seventh grade in Indiana, started buying property together as a side project in October 2024. Despite living hundreds of miles apart — Swofford is a startup consultant in Charleston, and Louw is a real estate agent in Buffalo — and committing no more than 10 hours a week to their joint portfolio, they grew to 24 units in less than 12 months.

"It was just supposed to be this little fun thing that we do, and that's still what it is, but it's grown into something bigger than I think we might have both expected it to," Louw told Business Insider.

They've scaled quickly — and without having to use much of their own savings — thanks to creative financing strategies, their combined skillset, and a clear strategy that centers on multifamilies in one of the nation's hottest housing markets.

Buying exclusively multifamily properties

Swofford and Louw's first joint deal was a three-unit property — and they've continued to buy multifamilies ever since. These are single buildings that are divided to house more than one family living separately.

While they purchased a few duplexes early on, they're now shying away from doubles and focusing on bigger multifamilies with at least three units.

"The cash flow and cap rates are a lot better," said Louw, at least in their market. "Just looking at the numbers over the last year, it's a more lucrative and safe investment."

Buying multifamilies especially makes sense for Swofford and Louw, who have used the BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) method to scale. This strategy involves buying a distressed property and renovating it, but they look for multifamilies that don't need a full rehab and have at least one livable unit. That way, they can start bringing in rental income immediately.

Louw gives the example of their most recent acquisition, a five-unit property: "Two of the units are occupied and we're redoing the other three, so those two units are covering our monthly expenses while we're redoing the others."

Managing a multifamily, rather than a single-family home, is more efficient from a time and money perspective, he added: "The plumber just goes from one to the next. The electrician follows behind." In general, "the amount of different job sites we can minimize just makes it more efficient across the board and also keeps me from having a drive around the entire city."

'All in on Buffalo'

Buffalo makes sense specifically for Swofford and Louw, as Louw has been living there for a decade and has established connections with contractors, real estate agents, and other investors.

It's also a market where their ideal property type, multifamily, is "extremely common," explained Louw.

"At the turn of the 19th century, Buffalo was one of the richest cities in the world because pretty much anything that had to go out west had to come through the canal system, so there were a lot of families moving here to work. And with big families, the theme back then was separation of living space but being in the same home."

Buffalo is also simply a good place to buy real estate right now. Online brokerage Zillow dubbed it the "hottest" market in 2024 and 2025, thanks to its affordability and job growth.

"I moved here 10 years ago, honestly, at the best time. It was really when the rejuvenation of Buffalo started," said Louw. "It's classic steel city, where in the '70s and '80s, they saw a huge decline in population as the factories closed down and their production moved to China. So, the average home price in Buffalo 10 years ago was ridiculously low compared to the national average."

Home prices are playing catch-up, he said, but it's still a much more affordable market than other populous US cities. And, more and more young professionals are moving to Buffalo.

Louw points to the New Yorkers, who, enabled by post-COVID remote work policies, migrated to smaller, more affordable cities like Buffalo. Plus, thanks to programs like 43North, which invests $5 million annually to recruit high-growth companies to Buffalo, "we have all these young adults coming in that are making good money," he said.

As a result, "we have a lot of people that want these higher-end rentals that we're offering."

It's not worth it to him and Swofford to start looking in different markets, at least for now. They want their joint portfolio to continue feeling like a side project.

"We're scaling phenomenally, but we don't want it to get to the point where it detracts from our other careers that we have going on and becomes another stress or too consuming," said Louw.

He added: "For the foreseeable future, we're all in on Buffalo."

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