All Forum Posts by: Arlen Chou

@Paul Trujillo you have come to the right place.  BP is full of knowledgeable people.  @Johnson H. has a great monthly meet up in SJ that is free. It is free flow type of meet up, so no body with an agenda pushing ideas etc. There is also a BIG REI summit coming up in August that is hosted by @J. Martin.  I am a big believer in both of these events as my investing really took off after attending them.  After going to Johnson's meet up and meeting people, I was decided to attend the first BA summit that was hosted by J.  It was packed full of knowledgeable speakers who were not pushing DVD's for sale.  They were genuinely there to teach and discuss their experiences with the audience.  Since attending my first meet up and attending the first summit in 2014, I have added 10 doors to my portfolio.  I was able to do this by following the advice given at the summit and guidance from people I meet at the meet up.

http://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Networking-Summi...

http://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Real-Estate-Inve...

Good luck to you!

-Arlen

Welcome @Ashley Watkins it is great that you are interested in REI. The Bay Area is a tough market but it does have its advantages. Once you get down here, you should try to get to some of the meet-ups. But if you cannot get to those events there is a BIG summit coming up in August that his hosted by @J. Martin. It costs some money, but you will be exposed to a great group of speakers and also have the opportunity to meet hundreds of investors, with a majority being from the BA.  There won't be any hard sales pitches, so just come and listen and absorb!

Good luck to you!

-Arlen

@Peter Mateja welcome to BP and congrats on moving forward in the REI world. You came at the right time. There is huge REI summit that is coming up in August. It will be hosted by @J. Martin.  The first one he held was a great source of information.  I am sure that this one will blow the doors off!  There won't be any hard sales pitches from guru type of guys.  Just a bunch of people, from BP that will be sharing their knowledge and experiences.

Come check it out and meet a bunch of local investors at the same time!

http://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Networking-Summi...

Good luck to you,

Arlen

@Justin Louie you have definitely come to the right place for answers.  As @Anthony Addessi stressed, the meet up held by @Johnson H. is a great monthly local resource.  He is also the interim host for @J. Martin meet up in SF.  Speaking of J, you should definitely look into attending the SF Bay Real Estate Networking Summit that he will be hosting in August.

http://www.sfbaysummit.com/

I went to the first summit a few years ago, and it was a great experience.  Since going to that summit, I have added 10 doors in the Bay Area that all cash flow! You won't have a ton of guys trying to sell you stuff or push their corporate products. It is really an opportunity to hear from people who have fought their way to REI success. Much of the topics will be directly applicable to creating strategies in the BA.

Good luck to you and hope to see you at a meet up or the BA Summit!

-Arlen

@J. Martin thanks for the shout out!

@Minh Doan like J has stated, I am invested both in the South Bay, Mountain View and Milpitas to be specific, along with 10 doors in Oakland.  I like both for different reasons.  Basically apples to oranges, but both can be great investment areas.

The Bay Area is getting a high amount of pressure for RC, both in cities that already have it and cities that are considering it.  It is just a knee jerk reaction to the limited supply of rental in the region and the upward pressure on rents.

@Account Closed is very knowledgeable about making good income within the boundaries of RC.  It is work to make money in RC cities, but it is also profitable if done correctly.  Follow his advice about learning RC specific to that city and also how to work with the city in getting the out come  you seek.  

@J. Martin and @Account Closed really hit the nail on the head about finding property near light rail or BART.  Transportation will be critical in the near future and anything you can get close to transportation infrastructure will undoubtedly be great investments.

@Johnson H. is having his monthly meet up tomorrow, you should definitely try to get out and meet some folks.

Good luck to you!

-Arlebn

@J. Martin your first summit was key point in getting me on the road to getting into real estate investments.  Hearing so many experienced people speak and meeting so many success/goal oriented attendees really pushed me toward implementing my plans in real estate.  To anybody who is on the fence about attending, take the plunge and sign up!   The lineup looks great and I am certain that this will be one of the best learning experiences for any new or seasoned investors!  Great decision to get this event going!

Hello @Mimi H., in this case I would look at this more as a business partnership then the opportunity to buy a property.  The most overlooked portion of a partnership, business or otherwise, is the end...  How do you unravel this property ownership if either of you wants to leave the situation.  As a FEW examples: how do you value the individual units so the other person can "buy out" the partner.  What happens if the partner decides he needs to get his equity out due to some unforeseen emergency?  What happens if either one of you dies in a car crash, does the other person get the entire property?  What happens if your partner gets sued for something that is totally outside of your control and they come after the property?  What if he stops paying his share of the property taxes or insurance?  

At the beginning of a partnership everybody is thinking about the "opportunity" and believe that "nothing bad" or "he would never do that"will rule the relationship forever.  But the sad truth is that there are real reason for legal "CYA" strategies.  

My point is that there are so many potentially dangerous unforeseen scenarios that could effect the two of you, that having a clear legal document should take priority in your evaluation of this "partnership".  Have the clear discussion, prior to making the commitment and make sure everything is documented clearly.  That way 20 years from now or 20 days from now, if a difference in memory of details does arise, you will have something to reference.

Good luck to you!

-Arlen

@Raquel Pea my buddy @J. Martin really understands this geographic niche.  Like you and hundreds of other investors, Oakland makes sense to me as a long term play.  Oakland has been "punched in the face" many times, but I believe that after every punch the city does move in the right direction.  Even if that move is very small, the city is slowly moving out from the shadow of SF.  The meteoric rise in prices might slow down over the next 12 to 18 months, but my personal feeling is that Oakland has gotten to the tipping point and might just make it over this time around.

Drinking the kool-aid is fine, just make sure you get the cups without the cyanide. 

Good luck to you!

-Arlen

Thanks @Jordan D. and @Chris Mason I will reach out to them and see how things go.

Hello BP,

I have a 6 plex in the Fruitvale area of Oakland and I am looking for a property manager to take over for me.  Any recommendations would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Arlen