San Jose Meetup - Friday 9/12/14

[Johnson H.]

Hi All,

Last few months we have had over 20+ BP members attend, chatting about investing in the San Jose area and also out of state. @Jay Y. suggested this meetup and I am helping him post it. We welcome anyone who would like to attend!

When: Friday, Sept 12, 2014, 7:00pm

Where: Whispers Cafe and Creperie (outside patio)

(The cafe is in the same complex as City Sports and in the same building as Five Guys on the opposite side of the building.)

1085 E Brokaw Rd
Ste 10
San Jose, CA 95131

Looking forward to meeting new investors and seeing familiar faces.

Regards,

Johnson

Keywords:

South Bay , South Bay Meetup , Bay Area , Meetup , Meet up , Meet-up , San Francisco , Oakland , Berkeley , Alameda County , Contra Costa County , Solano County , Richmond , Hercules , Concord , Albany , Pittsburgh , Marin San Rafael , South Bay , Peninsula , Walnut Creek , Pittsburgh , Antioch , Pleasanton , Fremont , Castro Valley, San Jose, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Fremont, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Gilroy, Santa Cruz

[Tejas Kotecha]

Hi Everyone, 

I am a total newbie. I will be attending this meet-up, looking forward to meet everyone. Thanks @Johnson H. for arranging it and @Account Closed for reminder and clarification on timing. 

[Johnson H.]

@Suzanna Lam - You are going to have to enlighten me. What are these investments that return 15% annually risk free?

@Tejas Kotecha - Welcome and I hope you enjoy yourself tonight!

@Yuliany W. - I don't invest in flood prone areas so my properties are fine. Were yours affected?

I'm already here everyone, just swing on by when you get the chance!

[Nadia Garnier]

Hi :)

[Sam M.]

Guys,  

That was a lovely event - I lost a lot of my nerves around the whole RE thing having met a group of such confident dynamic people

RE On!

[Johnson H.]

Thank you to everyone for coming out last night. We had another 20+ investors with a mix of frequent attendees and new investors coming out to the meetup. It's always a great time to chat with everyone and gives me the itch to buy my next property! Be on the lookout soon for the next meetup on October 17, save the date! 

I didn't realize what I said last night during the introductions would turn out to be a popular quote. However, I don't quite remember how I said it but I think it was like this, "It's easy to buy a house. It's hard to buy a house and make money on it."

@Sam M.  - Glad you and your husband were able to come out to the meetup for the first time. I'm excited for your new property and I'm looking forward to how great it will turn out!

[Sam M.]

Thanks Johnson!  BTW the locaiton I was talking about is this one http://missionrockresort.com/

[Tejas Kotecha]

@Johnson H. I really missed out; couldn't get out of a meeting on timely manner to make down south. Hopefully we will have a East Bay meet up soon; for me to attend and start out. 

[Kevin Auyong]

Johnson H, that was a great statement and I'm glad I asked you to repeat it. It is one I will always remember! Nice to see everyone again,

[Suzanna Lam]

@Johnson H.  I didn't say investment that pays 15% no risk.  I said "Find a vehicle that gives you up to 15% interest risk free for your cash while you're waiting for opportunities".  While I love flipping real estate, it was more fun doing it back in 2009-2011 than it is today because everyone nowadays jumps on the wagon while back then only the courageous went against the flow and scooped up cheap finds.   So while I'm waiting for the next party, I'm putting my cash temporarily in a vehicle that gives me a very reasonable upside potential mirroring the changes of the market while protecting my growth and principle if the market goes south.  It is a long term solution and is not something you can set up and get the money go to work right away.  I'd say give the vehicle at least 5 years for the money to work its engine.  

[Paul Cheung]

@Johnson H. It was a great meetup and you were a great host. It was so wonderful to meet all these friendly people who are willing to share their experience; good or bad. Gina and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and look forward to the next meetup.

@J. Martin After hearing about your Richmond and Oakland deals, I realized I might be missing out on some great deals for being too conservative. Oh well. Theres always the next deal. Thanks for sharing.

@Minh L. Thanks for your info on HELOCs. What was the lady's name at EW Bank ?

[J. Martin]

For those who wanted the link to the Real Estate Networking Summit in November at SFSU, click RSVP at this link!

http://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Networking-Summits-REmeetup-com/events/204953852/

Helen Chau,

I wanted to introduce you to Alan Malisce and Joey Budka, both of who are Commercial Real Estate brokers in our network. Ask Joey about connections for other CRE brokerages. If you get on the multifamily email lists for CBRE, Cassidy Turley, RE/Max, Marcus & Millichap, etc, you should have most ofyour bases covered. You can also check Craigslist, Loopnet, & FSBO. Good luck in your MF search. And yes! You can get commercial financing on 2-4 units, but like I said, financial performance ratios aren't quite as good as 5+. Flip side of the coin is more inventory in 2-4 than 5+.. It sounds like you're having a tough time on the inventory side..

Sam M,

Nice seeing you and your husband in person! I definitely recommend networking with other real estate investors whenever you get a chance. It’s done wonders for my investing, knowledge, and relationships/partners. Too bad you missed my last few meetup group in Oakland at rehab projects. It’s a great way to see what needs to be fixed, plans, costs, and expenses profit. Maybe next time. Also, the Summit in Nov will be a great chance to meet and hear from others, in a weekend-long format. See the link above, and click RSVP. Speakers like Brian Burke have done over 600 flips, so they have a lot of experience going about estimating what to do and how much rehab will cost. Feel free to tag me or others if you have questions as you’re getting started.

Andrew Eaton,

It was a pleasure meeting you in person, and talking to you a little more about what you are working on. As I said, I recommend Rich Weese’s book as a great way to get ideas on deal-making and finding ways to make things work in unusual circumstances (or even usual circumstances). Sounds like you have some great opportunities in the pipeline. Be sure to keep your partner happy, and find something that works for both of you, whether it be tear-down, add-on etc for the renovations.. Hope to see you again soon, and feel free to tag me in the forums! Come meet some others at the summit! Another great ways to get ideas and meet other potential partners for the future. You network is your net worth!

Kathleen L,

A pleasure catching you down in the South Bay! And glad we could help each other out on this loan, and that I was able to put you and Chris Music and Denise Alberto in touch for a deal. Appreciate your support/volunteering for the Summit too! Thanks (and for ride offer back to Oakland after the meetup)! And glad you found a place in Berkeley :) Hope to see you soon at Bay Area Wealth Builders! Going to try to make it this week!

Minh,

Thanks again for the ride from the airport, and the Vietnamese avocado drink :) It was cool checking out your properties. I’ll have to give you a tour of Oakland & Richmond sometime ;) So modest in your introduction at the meetups. For those who don’t know, Minh is a wealth of information and has helped me out with lots of technical and detailed advice on various issues I’ve run into while closing on deals. And has been generous in his time to help out. Thanks Minh!! And congrats on your recent close!

Johnson H and Jay Y,

Thanks to both of you for scheduling and keeping the South Bay meetups going. And thanks to Johnson for the ride back from the San Jose meetup to closer to SF, where I could BART back to Oakland. Let me know if you get another potential syndication deal together. Interested in hearing about it.

Jay, it’s always interesting hearing from someone who’s done out of state and in-state, and that evolution as it progresses.. So true that no matter where you are, it’s all about due diligence, having the right people, and getting a good deal (or at least fair!).

Ezra Nugroho,

Thanks again for bringing that packet from your last out-of-state pitch you received. It’s nice to be able to see the actual numbers and deals that are being proposed in today’s markets. It looks like it’s harder to get yield no matter where you go. But we can thank the Federal Reserve for that, and for the low rates and increases in prices we’ve seen. So it’s a mixed bag. I’ve been seeing more wholesale deals now that I’ve been networking with more people, so I’m optimistic on getting more good deal flow here in the Bay.

@Helen Chau , @Sam M. , @Andrew Eaton , @Kathleen L. , @Account Closed 

[J. Martin]

Marilynn Woodcock,
Nice to meet you in person, and thanks for coming all the way up from Gilroy! What do you think about land down there in Gilroy? Maybe some ag land just outside current development for potential future development?.. Know anything about it? If you can get some properties locked up in contract on a great deal, you’ll be doing well. Definitely develop a “buyer’s list” for when you get something locked up. If you get something now, and you’re not sure who to contact for the time being, email it over to me, and I can shoot it out to those who might be interested in my network. Like I said, we just paid $20K to a wholesaler for a great deal in Oakland, so bring the next one on!

Susan Gong,

Always a pleasure! Thanks for the “shout out” at the meetup, and happy to help you look at some deals. So many out there, but unfortunately, only a small handful of them are real deals… All about picking out the diamonds in the rough. For me, that means a lot of on-the-ground research checking out the properties, streets, neighborhoods, and people. Literally pounding the pavement! And networking with as many people as possible. I just happened to be chatting with Brandon Lee on the phone when he told me about that deal, so stay in touch with everyone, and meet more! Hope to see you in November, and in between!

Yuliany W,

I didn’teven get to really chat with you. How are things? How is AZ? Anything new in your sights? I’m taking some time off work to take a break, recoup from these last couple deals, and work on wrapping things up for the Summit. Will have both out of state and in-state speakers, and lots of deal source connections, lenders, other out of state investors, etc. Should be interesting.. I may even be looking out of state someday, so interesting for me to hear from others’ experiences, successes, challenges, etc..

Troy Fisher,

Nice to see a blast from the past! I can't believe you were thinking about exiting RE after that deal fell apart! Plenty more fish in the sea. Don't get too married to one. Deals fall through all the time. Everything doesn't have to make 25-50% ROI every year to be a good deal. That's great if you can find, close, and realize them. But I'd rather have some consistent/solid 10-25% returns on actual deals closed, than 25-50% on nothing. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure you can round up some cash in the group if you find a killer one out there and can pitch it right..

Kevin Auyong,

Probably the most consistent meetup regular out there! How are things progressing? Just counting down until the day? Or thinking about making an early move still? You’ve probably done some of the most due diligence on the areas you’ve looked into than anyone else I know, so I’m sure it will be a success when you hit that marker and start pulling the trigger. Interested to hear how it goes!

Brandon Lee,

Thanks again for the great deal and the smooth transaction. Would be happy to work with you again. Especially if you get anything from Richmond down to Oakland, or Pittsburgh/Antioch. Call me first!

And last but not least…

Kathryn M! My inspiration!

One of my favorite smiles to see at the meetups, even if only briefly :)We’ll have a busy rest of this month on our property, rent notifications, exterior rehab, etc. Then start helping the downstairs tenant find a place to buy. Hopefully someday I’ll have a schedule and portfolio like yours ;) Minus the engineer part, hope to follow in your footsteps :)

@Marilynn Woodcock 

, @Susan Gong 

, @Yuliany W. 

, @Troy Fisher 

, @Kevin Auyong , @Brandon Lee , @Kathryn M. 

[J. Martin]

Originally posted by @Paul Cheung:

@Johnson H. It was a great meetup and you were a great host. It was so wonderful to meet all these friendly people who are willing to share their experience; good or bad. Gina and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and look forward to the next meetup.

@J. Martin After hearing about your Richmond and Oakland deals, I realized I might be missing out on some great deals for being too conservative. Oh well. Theres always the next deal. Thanks for sharing.

@Minh L. Thanks for your info on HELOCs. What was the lady's name at EW Bank ?

 Paul, different strokes for different folks. If it helps you sleep well at night being on the conservative side with both your properties and your tenants, and the financials work OK for you, that's fine. Stick with it. If you want to build a larger portfolio, you may miss out on some other deals and extra income if you only take limited inventory and limited tenants, with vacancies in between.. But sleeping well is an important attribute.

The important thing to me is that you're adequately compensated for the risk. I believe I am handsomely compensated relative to the risks that I take. And my risk aversion is not high. So that works for me. But may not for others at a different point in their age, lifetime earnings potential, experience, risk tolerance, etc..

One of the great things about these meetups and others is that you get to hear so many different experiences, investment styles, and geographic locations. Maybe that gives you some ideas too?... Even if not the same strategy as one you heard. That's what it's all about..

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Suzanna Lam:

I said "Find a vehicle that gives you up to 15% interest risk free for your cash while you're waiting for opportunities".  

So while I'm waiting for the next party, I'm putting my cash temporarily in a vehicle that gives me a very reasonable upside potential mirroring the changes of the market while protecting my growth and principle if the market goes south.  It is a long term solution and is not something you can set up and get the money go to work right away.  I'd say give the vehicle at least 5 years for the money to work its engine.  

@Suzanna Lam ,

I guess Tien is your hubby?  We are all ears if you can direct us to a vehicle that gives 15% interest risk free.  Money is money.  We don't discriminate.

[Account Closed]

It was definitely another success meet-up for Johnson and Jay.  Thank you for organizing it.  It was nice meeting the new as well as familiar faces.  

@Sam M. , congrats to you and your hubby.  You guys got a steal on the deal.

@Marilynn Woodcock , good luck with your wholesaling endeavor.  Just reach out if you ever need any help from any of us.  Personally, I'll share what I know.

@Andrew Eaton , it was nice meeting and talking to you.  You look younger in person compared to your profile photo.  

@Troy Fisher , It was nice seeing you again in quite a while.  Let's grab some lunch and exchange ideas.  I'm available almost any day for lunch or coffee except weekends.

@Susan Gong , it's always nice to see you.  Let's analyze that deal again.  I still believe you can buy that piece of land for a much lower price.

@Kathryn M. , unfortunately, I have to agree with what J said even though you were only there briefly.

@Helen Chau , under promised and over delivered is my moto.  I'm more than happy to share with you my spreadsheet on how I analyze deals.  

@Yuliany W. , you looked fantastic.  I thought you were dressed to kill.  It was nice seeing you there.

@Kevin Auyong , I'd love to talk to you next time and learn about the process of doing due diligent for out of town investing.

@Kevin D. and @Ezra Nugroho , it was nice seeing you guys again.  Sorry I couldn't stick around long enough to see the numbers on your deal.  Can you email it to me Ezra?  I just want to get a better understanding of these deals.  Kevin, I'll let you know about the thing we talked about after I did my due diligence.  

@Paul Cheung, hope you got the introductory email.  Belinda said she will call you.  Hope things will work out.

@J. Martin, my nephew told me this and it stuck in my mind.  "when your bucket is full, you don't need to say much.  Let individuals with empty bucket make all the sounds."  I thought that was quite profound for a little kid.

[Sandeep S.]

@Johnson H. @J Martin  Looks like a fantastic meetup (that I missed!).  Will certainly make the October one,  

I still can't believe that I have never met @Account Closed Looking forward to the next meetup.

[Troy Fisher]

Originally posted by @J Martin:

Troy Fisher,

Nice to see a blast from the past! I can't believe you were thinking about exiting RE after that deal fell apart! Plenty more fish in the sea. Don't get too married to one. Deals fall through all the time. Everything doesn't have to make 25-50% ROI every year to be a good deal. That's great if you can find, close, and realize them. But I'd rather have some consistent/solid 10-25% returns on actual deals closed, than 25-50% on nothing. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure you can round up some cash in the group if you find a killer one out there and can pitch it right..

Found one today that's ranging in the 22-33% range.  Someone once told me if you want to be extraordinary, you have to do extraordinary things.  I just need to start looking for more extraordinary deals, and start actually working on real estate.

[Ezra Nugroho]

Originally posted by @Sandeep S.:

@Johnson H. @J. Martin @Tien, it was really nice to talk to you all.

[Susan Gong]

@Johnson H.

Thank you again for organizing the wonderful meet up. You rocks!

@J. Martin, I like your "Buy, Buy Now" joke.  You brought a lot of laugh to the meet up. Hope to hear more.

@Account Closed, thank you, thank you. Ezra's package is with me. It's a about-100-page package with a CD. If you need it soon, I can scan it and email you most part of it. 

@Jay Y. , congratulation to your new property and new job. You look like an old friend of mine, which makes me feel that we know each other for a long time. Minh gives me the same feeling, not because of an old friend, but because he looks much like a famous HongKong movie star -- Felix Wong.

@Yuliany W.  I agree with what Minh and J Martin said "You dress to kill".

@Ezra Nugroho  Thanks for the package and sharing it with us. Good job on your PA investment. I look forward to hearing more success stories from you. With your passion and your hardwork, you will make it sooner or later. Man, you give me a lot of peer pressure. I feel I really get to do something to catch up now. LOL...

@Kevin Auyong  I enjoy our talk in the parking lot. Thank you for sharing your thought. I give my most sincere wishes to your investment. Now I understand why your profile photo looks so good. :)

@Kathryn M.  Long time no see. I heard you stopped by and left. Hope to see you next time. Congratulation to your Oakland property. You choose partner wisely. ;)

It was awesome to see new faces:

@Brandon Lee

@Paul Cheung and Gina

@Troy Fisher

@Helen Chau

@Andrew Eaton

@Marilynn Woodcock

Hope you to see you again! 

[David C.]

Looks like I miss a good meetup.

@Susan Gong  .  Do you mind to email me the package if you scan it?  I like to take a look.  Thanks @Ezra Nugroho  for bringing it.

[Susan Gong]

@David C.

Sure, I will scan it and email you a copy.

[Johnson H.]

Hi All,

It has come to my attention that some people have been contacted about an investment that is not real estate related. Please message me if you have been contacted to talk about it with me. Thanks!

I plan on having the next meetup on either Oct 10 or 17. Work is really hectic right now(I am in Chicago right now, Dallas last week, worked 20+ hours Fri/Sat) and my schedule keeps changing so hopefully I can firm it up next week. Stay turned for the next meetup!

[J. Martin]

Someone at the last meetup had mentioned they were looking for a large multifamily in the Bay Area. Here's a big building a super prime location in the Mission in San Francisco. I think it was someone from San Jose/Santa Clara area looking around..

https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Francisco/3440-20th-St-94110/home/1645808

Maybe this is too small still. I think you were talking about more units..

[Johnson H.]

My work schedule has been changing constantly and brutal the past few weeks. I almost got stuck in Chicago last Friday at the airport and was in Dallas the week before giving a nerve wracking presentation. I'm glad that is finally all done and now I can focus a bit on real estate again. My first action is to put up the next meetup! It will be on Friday, October 17, at 7pm again. Please see the link below and join us for another great session and learning from one another. See you there!

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/150283-san-jose-meetup---friday-10-17-14