Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 3 votes
Hello Everyone! My name is Mark and my wife and I recently relocated to Orange, CA from Philadelphia. I was recently turned onto BP and I am loving the wealth of knowledge which exists on this website. We are currently renting our row house in Philadelphia which we purchased back in 2011 and are looking to take our investment strategies to the next level. We love it here in California, but do not think it's appropriate to buy here, since I could get multiple income generating properties for the amount I would need to purchase our primary residence here. I am a very novice investor who is big on doing research and a little apprehensive when it comes to risk, but we are willing to take it to the next level.
@Mark P. Welcome to BP. What are you specifically looking to learn about or do? There are many opportunities in Orange County, you just need to know where to look and work with some seasoned professionals. I flip homes and I'm in the process of finishing up my third flip in less than six months.
Welcome from another East Coast to Southern California transplant. :)
Central NJ to Irvine here. Pretty much same goals as you, and noticing the area around us not very good for investments unless you're buying distressed properties and repairing them. Not sure I want to get into that this early in my experience levels.
@Mark P. Welcome to BP. What are you specifically looking to learn about or do? There are many opportunities in Orange County, you just need to know where to look and work with some seasoned professionals. I flip homes and I'm in the process of finishing up my third flip in less than six months.
Thanks for your message Joe. I would like to get into flipping homes, but I feel like my cash wouldn't be enough for OC. It seems like any "Cheaper" property get snagged pretty quickly with all cash offers. Have you had any good luck with lower end homes? I would need to start somewhere, but I feel like the markets in Dallas, San Antonio, Nashville are more suited for me beginning as an investor.
Welcome @Mark P. it’s a pleasure to have you here! You will find this a tremendous resource for all of your real estate needs. You may want to set up some “keyword alerts” to notify the topics that interest you the most.
BP is a treasure chest full of useful resources. You will find resources here from blogs to pod casts and forums. You can also send messages to members which is my favorite part of the website.
Welcome to the forum. Living in Orange County pretty much my whole life, I have been looking at investment out of state as well. Great place for information.
Hey Mark! Welcome to BP and sunny SoCal :) I'm in LA/Venice.
You're actually at a great advantage being from Philly...Philly is actually a market that is great for investing right now. Most CA investors buying out-of-state are buying in markets they aren't familiar with because that's just how the markets play out as far as where is good to buy. But you're lucky in that you could actually just buy in Philly, where you are already familiar with it. Of all the markets I work with, Philly is the most popular right now even. The neighborhoods wouldn't be the ones you used to live in (most likely), but still decent areas and great returns.
How will the numbers on your row house pan out for renting it out? Will it cash flow?
My wife and I have been having very similar thoughts as you in regards to the market here in Orange County. We have a little money set aside but certainly not enough for an all cash offer here. We would love to connect with you guys and be able to bounce some ideas off each other. We are located in Tustin and look forward to hearing from you.
I am fairly new to BP as well, but have found it to be a very great platform.
Stay tuned in, utilize keywords, and build your network.
When facing expensive real estate, just brainstorm on strategies that you could utilize if you had the money. Once you come up with ideas, market for cash buyers in your local area to see if you can find folks that could implement one of your strategies. Add a marketing fee in the deal for your efforts, before passing the deal to the end buyer (You could label the fee with whatever suits you). The important thing is to find a very good REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY, then set an appointment to meet-ask a lot of questions to gage the experience level and volume of business. They will handle your contracts after you make them privy to your plans!
Thanks for your message Joe. I would like to get into flipping homes, but I feel like my cash wouldn't be enough for OC. It seems like any "Cheaper" property get snagged pretty quickly with all cash offers. Have you had any good luck with lower end homes? I would need to start somewhere, but I feel like the markets in Dallas, San Antonio, Nashville are more suited for me beginning as an investor.
Hi Mark - We're managing advertising for large investors in all the markets you mentioned, and we're based in Dallas. I can tell you this - the competition is pretty tough everywhere right now as inventory has been tight and there is an abundance of "investors" in all those markets. San Antonio right now is one of the most competitive markets in the U.S.
So, don't expect it to be easier to find deals in any decent market. There is a lot of competition. Where you have an advantage out of state is:
1) Lower cost per deal (cheaper houses) - you can buy 2-3 houses here in Dallas for the price of 1 in OC. On the other hand, you can make a lot more on a single deal in OC than you can make on a much cheaper house in Dallas. It could be a wash as far as the actual ROI on your capital, but at least when you have 2-3 deals your capital is spread out more, you don't have as much at RISK in any single project. That's an advantage. One bad deal in OC can bankrupt a novice investor.
2) Lower cost of advertising - Advertising, including Google AdWords, in OC is very expensive. Some of our key phrase (e.g., "buy my house fast") are $20-30 per CLICK in the Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino markets. It can take 10 clicks to get a form filled out (i.e., a "lead") so your cost for a lead out there is easily $300 (cost per conversion). In Dallas or Nashville, that cost might be closer to $150. In San Antonio, maybe $200. So, your marketing dollars can be more efficient in the markets you mentioned (vs. OC).
I'm no expert on remote investing; in general, I'm leery of it. I think you need to have trusted people there in the market where you invest - people that can go look at properties, manage contractors, etc. People that you KNOW, like family or friends. Otherwise, may be too many opportunities for people to take advantage of you not being there.
