All Forum Posts by: Alvin Uy

its always interesting to see how rehabs are done in different parts of the US.  Thank you for sharing.   

I've done that corner shower with curtains before... and ended up with a lot of water damage because the curtains will never keep that water in.  I recommend enclosing that corner shower with glass or something instead. Trust me!

Im in SoCal (Los Angeles area).  I have a newly rehabbed 4bedroom 4bathroom up in the hillsides of Tujunga.  I was originally going to flip but decided to rent it instead.  I listed it above market rent to test the current market rate in the area ($5k/mo). And I'm still getting a lot of calls and have been actively showing the house....  So I know there's still a lot of folks looking to move.   I got 2 applications in so far... but their credits are terrible don't have much in reserves so Im holding out for better applicants.  If I don't get any hits after a couple more weeks, I will lower the rent slightly.    Looks like having washer/dryer is a big deal since its whats being commonly asked during walk through appointments... so I've decided to buy some to hopefully attract more.

Also, this is the other thing Im doing differently... 3D virtual walk through:       

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=DHdZiUWVw8c&brand=0

Have you looked into how much it might cost to separate the meters?   Might be a good idea.

is tenant asking for 2 AC window units?  ...or a full HVAC system? 

Yeah,  I was rehabbing in the middle of the Covid Lockdown... and I noticed a big jump in building material prices in just a matter of weeks.  I was initially think it was just supply and demand issue.  But I have a feeling those pricing is here to stay.   My concern is how quickly inflation rate will be.  So I get a better idea of window timeline to invest in more property... while the interest rates are still low.

@Jonathan Greer

Following.

Ive been thinking about this very thing lately... especially with things finally opening up. Seems still a strong demand for housing in my area (SoCal).

@Calvin Lin i bought $10k worth of TSLA at IPO... too bad its all under my SEP IRA. Does that count?

I was debating chiming in on this because i find the definition of "retirement" debatable.   I THINK I might have "retired" a couple of years ago at age of 46 for a few months after I chose to scale everything down to spend more time with my kids..    That was a bit short-lived to be honest, because I got bored after a few months.   All my lifelong friends and peers my age were all still busy working and no one can come out to play during the day.   Weirdly, I felt like the "loser"... made me a little depressed actually.  Some how i felt lost and aimlessly needing a new purpose.    Then one day, I stumbled upon BiggerPockets, read some articles and listened to some podcasts... and Boom!   BP totally re-ignited my passion for RE.   So I found a new purpose and pivoted to pursue being a full time RE Investor.  Now, Im learning to be a developer. 

Do I feel "secure" during this pandemic?   That's another debatable word.  LOL!

You can read more about my back story on my profile.   I'm somewhat a serial entrepreneur... built and ran a few businesses and was featured on Shark Tank in 2014.  

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Im in Los Angeles, I have nine doors.  All my SFRs' utilities are all under tenants names... once they move out.  Some of the utilities (like gas) automatically reverts back to my name to avoid shut down and restart fees.    I have a 4plex... where there is only one meter going to all properties, I currently have to pay for this water bill and I hate it.  Im looking into separating the meter for all the units.

I don't think I need to read all the comments to assume you've gotten a lot of backlash from investors you are calling CRAZY.  LOL! 

Property management is of course not for everyone...    But i think your assumptions might be a little skewed based on your own personal experiences.   If one finds the property, the right tenants and invest in the right areas, the right market... and rehabs the property correctly to reduce deferred maintenance upfront, property management is really NOT that difficult.  Im an investor in Los Angeles and invest primarily in Los Angeles where rents are super high (and so are management fees). Oh and there is rent control!   For my wife and I, it is imperative we run things like a business... that means being lean on monthly cap ex to keep our net income up.    Ironically, we ended up managing our own properties because we went through a slew of PMs that did not work out of us.  Btw, I can tell you none of those PMs really LOVED their jobs either.  

What I find CRAZY is that you assume and expect some investors like us to LOVE give up 10% of our income on an average for something takes very little effort for me and my wife. Just some perspective.... we own an SFR that rents at $4800/mo... 10% of that is $480/mo. That is $5760/yr!!! This is just one of our properties where we hardly ever hear from our tenants. We have over 10+ doors like this that we manage. We're talking $60K+ a year for us to be giving up. Not to say we completely LOVE the job, but its not that difficult if you have the right strategy and systems in place.