All Forum Posts by: Archie Robb

I've used many different companies over the past three to four years and that's a pretty typical range for home inspections. My brother's an inspector and his company charges $395 at the minimum and the price goes up for multiple units, bigger homes, etc. 

Look into Boyle Heights. Downtown is getting so expensive lots of people are starting to look at it. Rents are getting pretty high as well for renovated units close to 1st st. Obviously the closer you are to Downtown the better. 

@Anssi Viljanen Whereabouts in LA? I work in East LA (Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, etc.) and would love to connect if you're looking in the area. 

Without knowing much about the property it's hard to give sound advice. However, I would seriously consider selling just because you can upgrade to a bigger property with more units and cash flow a bit immediately and cash flow quite a bit once you get all units up to market rents. 

Airbnb can be great in certain areas. Feel free to PM me if you need any help for the LA market. 

Were you working with an agent or did you put an offer in with the listing agent so that he was double ending it? Sounds like a crap agent who was trying to take advantage of you rather than looking out for your best interests. 

And the commission is typically agreed upon prior to the agent selling the property. It's rare for a buyer to pay commission. 

A lot of the double ended deals are pocket listings. I work with a few agents that focus on apartments and nearly every single listing they get is a pocket listing for the first few weeks while they shop it to their own clients. If they're unable to sell it then they list it on costar/the MLS.

Hi Ashley! 

The 70% rule doesn't necessarily work in SoCal. It may in some parts but for the most part it simply will not. 

Major Market Area:
All real estate is local, and major market areas influence the formula. You will need to adjust the formula based on the market you are buying in. For instance, in California you may need to adjust the 70% figure to go as high as 80 or 85%. Compared to the Dallas – Fort Worth Texas where housing is more affordable the 70-78% should serve you well. Even more important is the hyper local factors based on the subject property itself. The ARV % you can buy at will fluctuate from zip code to zip code, subdivision to subdivision, even within the same major market area.

Welcome Mariah! 

BP is an amazing resource where you'll learn a ton from like minded people. 

As far as buying now vs. waiting it depends on so many factors so I can't really suggest what to do!

Go down to LADBS and talk to someone in zoning. I can almost guarantee you that you will not be able to do anything to change the zoning but you should be able to find out today. 

As far as purchasing the property, without seeing the property (location, numbers, renovation costs, etc.) I can't really give any advice on whether it's a good deal.