All Forum Posts by: Andrew Mok

 thank you! 

thoughts on real estate market coming down a bit after the forbearance period ends? and also, do you think it's true that duplexes don't sell as quickly as a single family home? 

 haha yea im all over the place. Long term goal would be to own multiple properties to generate cash flow, but i dont know which option to start with. 

#1 is obviously not in that direction, but I can always take a chance on pocketing the difference in appreciation when selling, and potentially the least amount of troubles I'd have to deal with. 

#2 I feel like is kind of risky due to higher payment, and potentially not being able to sell the property since it's a duplex vs a traditional home

#3 i would do in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the 20% down requirement... 

in terms of market, what do you think? 9% of all homes on forbearance is kind of crazy to me, even if some are just taking an advantage to save cash for the rainy days.. 

Hi everyone, 

hope everyone is doing well from the pandemic situation. My wife and I have been just setting aside cash to buy a home. we have multiple ideas, starting from:

1. buy a single family condo/townhome here in orange county

2. stretch a bit, buy a duplex here, rent out the other smaller property, eventually move out to a second home and turn this one into a rental property. 

3. buy in my hometown (Duluth GA) as a rental, while we still rent an apartment. My dad is a broker there, so he can help me out with the management, and hiring the needed team. This could be a fastest way to have a paid off home since prices are cheaper there, but i have to have the 20% down since it's an investment property, negating some of the cash leverage effect. 

We are gonna wait it out until the mortgage forbearance ends and see how the market plays out, but curious to know what the BiggerPocketers think of the future market, and what you would do out of the 3 options when it's time to pounce. 

thank you. I think I just feel FOMO for not owning any sort of real estate, so I need to think more logically vs emotionally. I do know one thing, and it is that even with the low rates, with the amount that i can put down up front, it's not an affordable mortgage rate, considering overhead like, IF one of us got let go, or if things start to break (and for the homes i can afford here, it definitely will break). 

which is why I started to look into GA more. I`m sure my dad can help me find something good also he's very familiar with the area. 

but, I do plan on staying in CA for forever as long as I can afford it :) 

thank you for the quick response! just thinking about the absolute worst situations here...

do you know if the eviction laws in GA are good for landlords? 

I also work for an appliance company, so re-doing kitchens is cheap for me. 

hello everyone, quick question.

so at the current rate that CA real estate is going, at minimum a decent home is $500k, meaning I need close to $100k to avoid PMI, and have a decently affordable mortgage (with my income level).

I am thinking of buying a property in my home town first (Duluth GA), and rent it out (properties rent really well there). Worst case scenario that it does not rent, my wife and I can pay the mortgage/bills/taxes on a $200k place in addition to the rent we are paying now. 

I would like to essentially build equity in the home in GA, sell it, and use the money to down pay for a place here. I think it's a decent way to leverage a smaller amount of cash from our side, but of course there are risks. 

Fortunately my dad is a broker in my home town, so he could be helpful, but I am also considering worst case scenario where I'd hire an agent, which I heard the usual rate is around 10-12%.

also a lot of homes in my hometown are built in the 2000s so I've seen my mom replace just the water heater one time within the last 7 years of living at her place...

thoughts? I think the biggest risk is if i miss the boat on stretching a bit to buy something here in California, but I think the market is slowing here. 

thank you folks. To be honest, it would not be in a neighborhood we would want to live in, so it would feel like "doing our time" in a relatively not as nice neighborhood to save cash. 

realistically it'll be more than the current rent after paying taxes, house maintenance, etc here, so I guess it's not really worth it for cash flow up front, you'd just be banking on the value of the property going up, which is a gamble I would not take in this sort of economy... but then again, it is Southern California, and I feel like there will ALWAYS be demand.. Assuming I don't get laid off from my current job and can stick it out for a few years, property values could still go up.. 

I'm really torn as the value of home going up should I buy something here would give me the leverage to buy more investment properties later down the line, but the rental property in Atlanta is definitely a smaller risk for me due to less upfront cost. 

Hello,

I`m originally from Atlanta (suburb in Duluth GA), and obviously the cost of entry is much lower there vs where I currently live (Long Beach CA). My wife and I have about $25000 to spend. 

Should I stretch and get a FHA loan here in Southern California for a duplex (probably going to be $500k+) so that when we rent out the other unit we can save on the mortgage to save for another property? Or, should I buy in Atlanta first (~$150k townhome) and rent it out?

Obviously it's very hard to get returns from both rent and home value going up with a small budget like ours, but I'm trying to determine which is the better first step to take. My dad is a real estate broker in Atlanta so I have some family member leverage there, but I assume I`ll still have to hire property manager as he'll be busy with his full time job. 

Atlanta townhome would be risk free (almost) for us, as we can cover the cost should the property not be rented out for some time, whereas if the duplex here in Southern California would be really hard to afford if one of us lost a job and the property was not renting. However, I feel like the home value will go up higher faster here vs Atlanta. 

My dad was advising us to wait a bit as housing prices are pretty inflated as of now, so our target time would be in about 1-2 years, or feel out the economy as the recession seems to be right around the corner.. 

My end goal would be to have multiple rental properties that generate enough passive income so that I wouldn't have to work as much/if at all. 

Thank you.