Great meetup everyone! Thanks to everyone who came out to share their thoughts with the rest of us, have some tasty beer, and withstood the chill of the patio to chat with some good people! I'm thinking about Wed, Jan 15th for the next one in a similar location near BART. Continue "monitoring" this forum for details on the next meetup.. Some shout-outs below (and BP "votes" for those I had the opportunity to have some good conversations with), and some forgotten, but it was great meeting everyone!
@Bill Bockwoldt , was nice talking to you again, and thanks for the tip on the attic fan for temperature difference issues. I'm looking at options, and might use a combination of that and great stuff in any little cracks, light fixtures etc to reduce the flow of air from the room to the attic. It's just when it's really cold. But amazing that it's actually enough condensation to drip.. One of those weird things you deal with as a landlord! (damn you a thousand times moisture!)
@Michaela Graham , I always enjoy your forums/posts and wanted to talk to you more! With so many people, I get distracted easily and didn't get a chance to circle back around. Hopefully next time, and out on the forums until then! I'm bad about voting for people, but your posts always remind me!
@Jaren Barnes, it was good talking to you again. Bring me an offmarket 2-4 unit in Richmond below 8 GRM so I can put some $ in your pocket! Let me know where to send pre-approval and loan broker contact info if you think you can find me one..
@Ralph E. , I barely even got a chance to say hi this time (and just a little last time also).. Third time is a charm!? I'll be sure to chat with you then, and on the forums of course..
@Denise Alberto and @Chris Music , let me know how everything goes on the flip.. Did you get an expensive bottle of champagne to pop yet? (Sometimes I wait to see how much I make before deciding which to buy lol). I really like the look of the place and the layout after you took out that wall. Good luck, and hope you get to pop a bottle soon! ps I get very animated sometimes around cool peeps! ;)
@Sam Magi , congrats on the close! Besides enjoying some champagne, I like to have a wonderfully delicious and pretty expensive meal.. Somehow just tastes that much better! Interested to hear how it all goes over time.. I'll send you some numbers on the types of deals that I've been prospecting for over here and we can chat. Send me a message as a reminder, and I'll give you my phone number. (I'm always nervous about getting some crazy spam posting it publicly online. Does anyone know of an easy/free phone number service that can give me a new local "throw down" phone number to forward straight to my cell? In case I need to ditch the number without changing my cell number?
@Jessica Yau , it was nice chatting with you about your property.. Would have liked to hear more! Over time.. I'm jealous, you bought in an area I've had my eye on for a long time! With all said and done, I'm happy with everything I have up here. But I'm almost certain I will own a property in West Oakland in the next decade - as an investment, or possibly even (gasp!) a primary residence! Good luck with the rents/tenants, and don't forget the power of picking up the phone and calling around to ask questions about what you can do. Amazing how friendly and informative people can be when you're not the 10th person to yell at them today!
@Arron Sweeney , I thought I saw you early, then did I miss you later? Or am I tripping? Anyway, hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to you next time!
@Cory T. . , Nice meeting you, and sorry I couldn't talk to you more also. So do rents go up in Palm Spring in the winter as the temperature plummets further past the arctic freeze we're experiencing? ! Maybe I'll talk to you about renting it someday in the off-season next time I have a job down in the Palm Springs area. (But erratic and infrequent when I am down there..) I was almost going to challenge you to a tennis match! ..but I was only at a modest proficiency when I last played a match a year or so ago, so I don't think you want to play tennis ball pickup for an hour! lol Good luck, and rake it in while it's freezing!
@Andy Kaufman , was nice talking to you, but again just not quite enough time.. Post on this thread or message me when you decide to put together the work group thing you were talking about.. Interested in hearing more.. And thanks for coming through on the nametags!!
@Amit M. , it was nice hearing from an SF investor and sounds like things are going as they go in SF... up!! You're so right about the city's laws and systems, condo lottery, rent control, ellis act, etc etc create a crazy world, and potential windows of opportunity for value creation.. if you get the golden ticket!! (well it's up anyway, but much higher if you can hit the lotto.) I wasn't aware that they switch the system, so maybe more of those opportunities are gone now..
@Minh L. , last but not least! It was a pleasure staying late to talk to someone who can really hold their own on their knowledge of real estate, metrics, financing, and strategy. And the two "C's" that were evading us were the most obvious! Cash flow & collateral! Don't be afraid to shop around on your variable rate loans.. If I had deeper pockets or in a few years, I might think about it more, but still lovin' the 30yr fixed at these rates.. I'd have to cry if I started prepaying or paid off my 3.25%.. lol I think I have a job down in the Monterey area in Q1, and maybe something on the peninsula later.. I'll get ahold of you and see what you're up to next time I'm around in your neighborhood..
It's a small world that @Johnson H. introduced me to this site a while back after we met in our 9-5's. I haven't hopped on the out-of-state bandwagon yet, but the headline numbers look good! (Would be interested to hear how things are going in Phoenix & Houston Johnson. - let me know next time you're working in FiDi and let's have lunch! Meeting up with your colleague Benn Dickson next week..)
@Joey Budka, if you get any MF inventory in Richmond in the 6-8 GRM range, or with lots of upside in rents/ value creation / turnaround, let me know. No MF turnkey for me..
I know there were more people there that I met and spoke with, but my mind is mush and eyes blurry at this time of night.. And someone bought me a beer, but can't remember who! Thank you! Owe you one next time ;)
Ken, Tim, Kevin, Daniel, Melvin, and everyone else I'm missing, there's never enough time (even after leaving later than 11PM!). More next time!
Everyone was tagged, then everyone went untagged when I tried to make an edit to one paragraph. Now I can't have more than 1 tagged person at a time. I have this problem all the time when I tag multiple people in the same post, so I'll save my 1 tag for @Joshua D. and the fine folks at BP to see if they can address the issue so you all get your shoutouts (or turn these into tags for now..?).. It's frustrating to tag all those people and not have it work :( (and I'm a paying customer now! ;) lol
Next Meetup:
I envision having a meetup about once per month in the East Bay. I'm thinking about Wednesday, January 15th at 6:30 PM, near a BART station close to Oakland (as a relatively central location), but at a different venue with more room. Let me know if you want to and that works for you, or can take it a day or a few in either direction..
Any input on venue, format/structure, or anything are all appreciated. Feel free to post here or send me a message. Next time, we can at least go around and introduce everybody one at a time - experience, location, what you're looking for in properties or partners etc. I was going to round everyone up outside, but it seemed like everyone was having a good conversation, so I decided to just let it flow.. Looking forward to next time!!