BiggerPockets

Greetings:

First post. My name is Ulf Israelsson, Swedish born, physicist, interested in part time real estate investing - for now.

My interest is to buy and rent out for the long term SFR properties in that outlying areas of Los Angeles that generate cash flow. It seems to me that prices are at that level in some areas.

Initially, I don't mind using some of my own money, but eventually I want to attract investors for profit sharing.

My goal is to generate a cash flow of $15,000 per month in the next 5 years.

I am hoping that the expertize self-evident on this website and in these forums can serve as a general mentor to me as I embark on this very exciting adventure. In particular, I am interested in connecting with investors and RE professionals with integrity in the Pasadena/ LA area.

Regards,
Ulf Israelsson

Thanks Dan.

Yes, I will check out a few of the LA investor clubs.

Ulf,

Welcome to the site. Buying and holding properties is the way to true wealth in this business and it seems you already have your goal laid out...congrats.

It is interesting that rents are coming down! If there are more rental props, are they not from folks who foreclosed and would therefore need to rent? Do you think people are leaving the area?

Welcome Ulf -

I live not too far from you. I like Pasadena. You have the nicest looking Craftsman homes I've ever seen.

I have pretty much the exact same goals as you. Mine is 20k per month in 7 years. And my outlying areas expand to Nevada and Arizona, which are also more landlord friendly states.

There is an LA group forum that just started here:

http://biggerpockets.com/forums/171

And there is an REI club meeting that looks interesting to me coming up next Thursday. I think it's called the Naked Real Estate Investment Club or something like that. Let me know if you're interested in going, I'll dig up the info and post it.

This site is a great resource. It makes our goals even more challenging, but only because of solid reality checks such as the one Wheatie posted.

I'm in the process of working on a business plan.

Thanks Wheatie.
Good point. I was thinking 1% rent versus price was the minimum. I will certainly strive for higher than that. My thinking is that if I can get in to control properties in the outlying areas of LA with a slight positive cashflow, the market will eventually go back up in value, and I can cash out some of the properties as the market moves up.

Hi Brad:
It seems to me that there is a net migration happening back towards LA, probably in part because of the high cost of commuting now, so rent may drop further. I have heard this from property managers I have spoken to in Palmdale for example. Something to watch.

Thanks Michael.

Hi Matty M:
Yes, Pasadena is great.
I went to the Rosie Nieto's Naked RE club meeting in Orange County about a month back. It was super, she had a great panel with Bruce Norris, Tony Alvarez, and Michael Cantu. She had her inaugeral LA meeting last week, which I unfortunately had to miss. I will go to future meetings.

Perhaps we shoud compare notes on our plans. I am itching to start buying.

Regards to all.
Ulf

Hi Tam,

Thanks for the REI Club info. I'll check it out.

Cheers,
Ulf