new member in Santa Cruz, CA

[Judy J.]

New investor based in sunny Santa Cruz, CA.  Anyone else here? I'm interested in cashflow opportunities primarily. I'm also interested in house hacking or investing in Santa Cruz but I'm priced out of the market here as far as I can tell.

I just recently received an inheritance, so I have about 100K to invest. I'd love to work up to making 2-3K/month. I recently attended J. Martin's excellent real estate summit and discovered notes and lending. I'm on the learning curve now and trying to figure out my strategy.

In the past I've co-owned a large house and rented extra bedrooms to students. I wanted to keep that property, but my partner needed to sell. I was able to upgrade it and sell it at a nice profit. I found that I loved getting the renovations done but I think the risk in flipping is too high for me now. I will be leaving my current job as an academic for personal reasons so I'm looking for cashflow with less risk to supplement my income until I decide what to do next. I'm motivated to get out from under the $1800 rent here, so will likely be buying something in my area soon for myself.

Those who have been there, any advice? Can you recommend anything else to do other than what I'm already doing? I'm scanning the intro postings now to see what has been recommended in the past and finding lots of great info. I've gone to a Santa Cruz meetup for investing and I'm going to a South Bay one soon. I'm talking to out of state investors. Thanks for any advice you can give me,

-Judy Jackson

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

Welcome to BP community @Judy J.  It is a great place to meet new friends and learn about various aspects of real estate and more. Here are a few recommendations for you:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

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If you wish to tag someone in the conversation on the forum, type @ followed by their name and then select that person below. He or she will be notified of being tagged so that the conversation will continue.

Wishing you the best! 

[Shane Pearlman]

Hi Judy.

I look forward to meeting you. I will post the date for the next Coastal Meetup later this week (aiming for Friday Jan 16) which will be in Capitola. 

Local cashflow is super challenging. Julie & I had some real luck buying multi-unit (duplexes in this case) that needed some serious work and brining them up to market, but that took some real capital. Happy to chat about it.

[Brett Synicky]

Hi @Judy J. !

You’re going to love this site! I’ve learned more about real estate investing since I joined BP than I did my entire life before that.

I highly recommend the podcasts:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

Also be sure to visit this page:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Happy networking!

[Joe Fairless]

@judy 

@Judy J. if you're studying up on note buying. He's a wiz at that strategy. 

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

Welcome to Biggerpockets!

I was at the seminar too! It was great and really awesome!  Just a couple of thoughts after reading your intro :)

*Have you thought about buying another large house and renting the rooms. Out you could live rent free with someone else paying your mortgage! Plus you only have to put 5% down so this will allow your inheritance to go even further.

*Buy and Hold- We buy higher income houses. They are less work and allow us to self-managefrom afar and close while having a life. 

I highly recommend you also check out- the blogs, forums and listen to the podcasts. If you see a post you enjoy check out the persons signature. As many of us have created resources around our niche (websites, blogs, etc) so checking out the signature is a great  to get more information. Make sure you don't miss out on networking is by filling out your signature, profile and pming people with questions.

Look forward to seeing you around!  

[James Wise]

@Judy J. 

welcome to the site.

[Jon Huber]

@Judy J.

Welcome to the community! Nice to see another Cali investor. Be sure to be as active and engaging as you can. This site offers a tremendous amount of information, but only if you seek it out. Read the blogs, post your questions, and the podcasts as gold. The best free education you can get. Good luck out there.

[Judy J.]

Originally posted by @Elizabeth Colegrove:

Welcome to Biggerpockets!

*Have you thought about buying another large house and renting the rooms. Out you could live rent free with someone else paying your mortgage! Plus you only have to put 5% down so this will allow your inheritance to go even further.

*Buy and Hold- We buy higher income houses. They are less work and allow us to self-managefrom afar and close while having a life. 

I highly recommend you also check out- the blogs, forums and listen to the podcasts. If you see a post you enjoy check out the persons signature. As many of us have created resources around our niche (websites, blogs, etc) so checking out the signature is a great  to get more information. Make sure you don't miss out on networking is by filling out your signature, profile and pming people with questions.

Look forward to seeing you around!  

 Elizabeth, 

    Thanks for your good advice about the blogs and making connections. I've already learned about mobile home investing, Dodd Frank and SAFE Act, and that's just this morning! This site is great!

    It's my long term dream to get another huge house and rent rooms. But I can't qualify for any loans now, as I'm not working due to health issues. I was able to purchase the house I had (7 bedrooms, 5 baths) because my ex and I were both working in software at the time. Now it's just me, I have time and cash, and good credit, but no income for a few months or more. I will go back to some kind of work eventually, but I would like to make the move to part-time work now if I can do it by supplementing with investments. 

[Account Closed]

Welcome! You will get much good advice on this site for sure, and tons of very knowledgeable people. 

I personally invest in cash and do owner finance in my city. I like it because I have no mortgages, no maintenance issues, and straight, pure cash flow. And I can sleep at night. The last is the best part :).

[Judy J.]

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Welcome! You will get much good advice on this site for sure, and tons of very knowledgeable people. 

I personally invest in cash and do owner finance in my city. I like it because I have no mortgages, no maintenance issues, and straight, pure cash flow. And I can sleep at night. The last is the best part :).

I like the way you think. :-) How do you find the owner financed deals? I've joined all of the investor meetups in Pittsburgh and will try to attend several while I'm there. I've found a few real estate businesses there (Aurora, etc) who were posting on BiggerPockets offering turnkey. I also have a realtor who is my stepmom there who's been sending me MLS listings. She said she will manage the property for me for free. And I've run the bigger pockets analyzer on one of them that I'm interested in so far. I suppose I could ask her to ask them about owner financing.

[Ali Boone]

Hey Judy! I assume Santa Cruz has a South Bay as well, and that you aren't talking about LA's South Bay? But if you are, very cool! I'm down in LA/Venice. I went to Santa Cruz for the first time last spring and loved it. 

Keep any of us posted on how we can help!

[Larry Fried]

@Judy J. I believe that in Joe's investment model, you would be the owner financing the deal, and the people you are financing are those who would normally be renters, but instead are paying you at the financed rate.  You have to own the house free and clear, no financing held on your part.  You retain title on the house, until the note is paid off.

[Judy J.]

Originally posted by @Ali Boone:

Hey Judy! I assume Santa Cruz has a South Bay as well, and that you aren't talking about LA's South Bay? But if you are, very cool! I'm down in LA/Venice. I went to Santa Cruz for the first time last spring and loved it. 

Keep any of us posted on how we can help!

 Ali,

  South Bay meaning the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area. Santa Cruz is small enough that San Jose in the South SF Bay is where a lot of people here go. Glad you like Santa Cruz! If you are in the area again, let me know and we can chat in person.

-Judy

[Ali Boone]

Definitely!

[Andrew Cordle]

Hello "BP Newbie" and welcome to Bigger Pockets. 

In the meantime here are 7 tips to help you grow your business using BP:

1. New to BP?

2. Develop your own business strategy. -- Don’t just be a “jack-of-all-trades"

3. Grow your business by developing your business plan. - Remember there is a difference between goals and a plan.

4. Locate and attend several different local REIAs as they’re great opportunities to network and meet wholesalers, lenders, and contractors.

5. Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - they rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

6. Spend 30 minutes a day on Bigger Pockets by connecting with “colleagues,” perusing blogs and videos, and engaging with others on the forums:

7. Set yourself up to receive free alerts to be notified of subjects that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @Judy J. thanks for introducing yourself! It's great to have you here! Don't miss The BiggerPockets Podcast - they are great for learning how others are finding success.

Oh - and be sure to set up some Keyword Alerts- especially for "Santa Cruz" so you'll be notified when people mention it here in the forums.

Thanks again for introducing yourself!