Woodland Hills, CA · Member since 2009 · 21 posts · 1 vote
Hello All,
I am a So California based investor , interested in creative financing and building relationships with lenders and like minded investors. I have come across a number of strong deals but did not have the means to close them fast enough nor the right relationships to partner with on them, and I cant stand passing on great deals! Any suggestions? Also where are the really good REI clubs in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles area?
Real Estate Investor · Provo, UT · Member since 2014 · 41 posts · 19 votes
12y
Lamonte,
You can search www.Meetup.com for Real Estate Meetups. Another source is to just place your deal here for all of us to review. You can also do an online search for "REI Clubs Los Angeles" "REI clubs San Diego". Also replace the word "clubs" with "Chat room", "Discussion Forum", etc to find them all. You will find 100's. You'll have to be picky to not join too many.
Woodland Hills, CA · Member since 2009 · 21 posts · 1 vote
12y
@Kevin Yeats Afternoon and thank you for your response. Where do I begin, as of late what I've seen is that once I've found deals my lack of credit has hindered my ability to get financing. I am looking to buy and hold multifamily (owner occupied) units but first must structure financing. Any suggestions?
Lender · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2009 · 825 posts · 486 votes
12y
Lamonte, It sounds like your subpar credit (I am assuming here) is holding you back. Work on repairing your credit (Captain Obvious talking).
You also mentioned "owner occupied multifamily." I take it you would like to live in one of the units. This could provide the opening. Check into FHA multifamily funding with low down payment requirements.
Another avenue would be to find a partner and buy a property together with your doing all of the property management and maintenance while living in one of the units. This partner could be the current owner who is 10 years away from selling and retiring. You and the partner would need to work on an agreement on the equity split and how that changes over time as you improve the NOI.
Have you envisioned some goals for yourself and your business and did you write them down?
Woodland Hills, CA · Member since 2009 · 21 posts · 1 vote
12y
@Kevin Yeats I have been in the process of doing so for the last few months. I will definitely take a look into FHA funding because i do plan on living in one unit in order to learn the business and give myself a strong understanding of what goes into maintaining a property and the costs that will arise. In terms of finding partners in your professional opinion where would be a good place to start looking for someone looking to partner?
Yes, I have spent much time writing out both long and short term goals for myself along with my business. I now am in the process of putting actions and hard work behind them.
Investor · Fayetteville, NC · Member since 2011 · 32 posts · 9 votes
12y
You can still do Multi-family with credit issues. You can look for ones that are willing to owner finance to get you going. If they require any cash down, borrow from a friend or family member to get the deal. Always make sure the numbers make sense. Motivated sellers are key for this to work great for you. After you had your first one for about two years look to refinance it and pay the owner off and use the cash reserve to put money down on other multifamily homes.
Do you know your credit score? As the others have said, FHA would probably be best for your first deal. FHA policy requires a minimum FICO score of 580 for a 3.5 percent down payment.
It's tough to find seller finance deals here in LA, but they do happen from time to time. In addition, depending on your budget, competition is fierce, but especially so for any property under $1MM. My wife just submitted her 8th offer for a pair of actors she is working with in the North Hollywood area - it was finally accepted.
One strategy to think about would be to consider investing in an out-of-state turnkey. It'll be a smaller deal, better numbers than LA, and you could use it to build your credit while saving for the next deal.
I have definitely been looking into FHA. I completely agree that it might be a valuable strategy. Being that I went to college in Arizona I have been researching the market there and have been considering looking into multifamily property there. Are there any other markets you would recommend I start doing more homework on?
If you can swing it, I'd upgrade to a Pro account so that you can start networking with turnkey providers in the BP Marketplace. You don't need to be a pro member, but it will allow you to solicit your own needs in the marketplace and I also find that it shows a minimum commitment to the community that you are serious about investing in yourself, as well as real estate. There are several members marketing sub 50K properties located in the midwest - that's just one place to start.
Before you do that, definitely fill out the rest of your profile so that other members can find you and read more about you. BiggerPockets is a community where credibility is the capstone for building meaningful connections that will help excel your goals.