All Forum Posts by: Aaron Mack

Hey Michael,

It sounds like you have a good plan laid out. As @Bruce Olsen was mentioning, it is important to understand the target market and not put too much or too little into the home. My broker does mid-century modern rehabs, new construction and consulting in Palm Springs and San Diego (focused mainly on the Point Loma area) and we find that having top quality installs is key but basing the cost of the project on what is selling in the area.

I'd love to meet up sometime to hear more about your plans. It's exciting when people step out and look to build something for themselves! 

Cheers

Hi John,

I know of a good broker out in the area that specializes in everything from sales to rehabbing and new construction development. They have a very knowledgeable team and I suggest hitting them up. Shoot me a message if you're interested for more information.

Happy Hunting,

Aaron

Hey Sean,

I work on investing and new development in San Diego. If new development is something you're interested about hit me up. 

Aaron 

Hello BP,

As a new construction and development specialist I am always on the look for opportunities and deals that could produce some newly constructed properties. As some of you may know, it is the original deal for the land that can make or break a new development investment. That being said, does anyone have suggestions on whether it is better to try and find these deals yourself by vetting a neighborhood (door knocking/yellow letters) or would it be worth the cost to find a wholesaler that can do that leg work for you? 

Aaron

Welcome @Charan K.!

If you are looking for a cash flowing buy and hold, San Diego might present a bit of an issue as it can be difficult to find one. Currently, I look out of state for my long term holds. At first, it can make you uneasy to buy a property out of state but if you make the right connections with agents and property managers of high integrity the returns can make it worth it. Personally, I choose this out of state strategy and use the income from the properties for my rent here in California. 

Good luck on your ventures! 

Hi Vicent,

Glad to hear you are thinking of making the transition from flipping to new development. If done properly it can be a rewarding experience. I know of a broker based out of San Diego and Palm Springs that has experience with new construction, architects, contractors, financial syndication and experience working with the city. They do a great job building mid century modern homes and new construction and could be a great connection for you. Message me if your interested in more details. 

Best,

Aaron 

Hello Fellow BP Investors,

They say Missouri is the "Show me state" and what I am curious about is whether Missouri properties would, for all intensive purposes....."show me the money". Has anyone had success investing in Missouri, specifically Maryville (which is where a fellow investor suggested as he owns property by the university). I understand the mid-west is a linear market and this is ok with me as I am looking for cash flowing properties for long term holdings. Per my research, I am finding properties that appear to have positive cash flow while maintaining the 50% rule and have cash-on-cash returns greater than local California properties. The analysis has been promising but theres no better research than hearing directly from those who have experienced owning property in Missouri.

I am not overly concerned about the lack of appreciation but do worry about vacancy and potential tenants. I do have a quality property manager out there but would like to hear any concerns, comments or success stories. 

-Aaron 

@Chris Benitez Welcome! @Andy V. brings up a good strategy which is buying a multifamily property, living in one unit, and renting out the others. On bigger pockets you will see a lot of people refer to this strategy as "house hacking" (especially @Brandon Turner ;). It's definetly a great way to get started in California as you could use an FHA loan to get into your first owner occupied property. With an FHA loan you might only need to put 3.5% down which for your situation sounds like the best route to go as you don't have a great amount of free money to invest.

An FHA loan does not come without a setback however. Due to the down payment being under 20%, you will have to pay an additional insurance that gets added on to the mortgage payment. So when looking at a multifamily property to "house hack" just be aware that your mortgage payment will be higher the less you put down thus you would want to make sure you can rent out the additional units and still be able to gain positive cash flow.

Overall, there are many roads you could take to being a successful investor from buy and hold, wholesaling, flipping, out of state investing, etc. I would suggest taking time to read up on a couple strategies, find one you like then take action! 

Welcome Kendra! 

I am also a fairly new investor in San Diego so I am not able to give you success stories but I have had some experience with finding some cash flowing properties in San Diego through the MLS. It's fairly rare but there are some out there. The issue I have come across is that my business partner and I have been getting out bid on our offers. I'm not sure if it's cash investors who are coming in or if we are just bidding too low. One thing I have found as valuable advice from mentors and others involved in REI is that you need to stick to your numbers. I have done so and as consequence have been outbid but I have yet to get in a bad situation. 

Do you have any idea where in San Diego you want to invest? My partner and I have been looking in Grant Hill and do find some properties that have some estimated positive cash flow (not much but positive). 

@Shawn Jacobs I'm curious, were you involved in flips/wholesaling or long term holds during your time in SD? 

Hi All,

When I first decided that I wanted to get involved in real estate investing I spent months researching investing techniques, financing options and locations. As I've become more comfortable and knowledgable I've come to learn that the best peice of advice is to TAKE ACTION. Thanks to BP, I've been motivate to finally take that action and step into my first deal with my business partner.

As we are now ready to take that step of faith and purchase a property, I have noticed that there is better potential opportunities to invest in Buy and Hold multi-family properties with positive cash flow out of my area (which is San Diego). I have run pro-forma's on properties in areas of Boise where my business partner has some connections and find that the return would be greater, not to say the purchase price lower, but I have concerns about pulling the trigger on a first deal not in my area. So the questions has to be asked, is investing out of state for the first purchase too risky or is it a moot point if a good opportunity presents itself?

Cheers,

Aaron