All Forum Posts by: Austin De Witt

@Mark Pedroza - I haven't gotten the list yet. I'm prepping to buy around Feb. I'm self employed so I want to wait until after I file my taxes early in Jan or at least after my CPA lets me know what my taxes look like. I am interested in Winters as PG&E is building a facility there now which should be up and running in the next 6-12 months. All those new employees will need housing. 

@Chris Mason - Nothing, I can definitely work with it. I was just seeing what else might be out there and also feeling out possible competition levels by posting about the areas and seeing feedback levels. 

If anything, the harder it is to get resources for an area the better I feel - fewer people doing the same. I've got plenty of time on my hands to go through the list.

Thank you all for the responses, looks like I'm pretty well set to getting started. I was approved for up to $250k home at 5% down with 3.75% with Guild. They estimated total monthly costs including mortgage insurance, property taxes, and such at around 1,500/month.  I know that if I'm patient and put in some footwork I can find a property for around 160-200k that I'm happy with. Hopefully in Woodland. I plan on house hacking and renting out 1 to 2 rooms depending on what I find, eventually turning it into a full time rental that can cash flow. At least that's the goal!

I'm fine with small - easier to become familiar with the individuals you're working with. As long as they are good at what they do at least.

So I was driving for dollars in Woodland, CA last weekend and looks like there are a couple prospects that I found where homes looked empty and had been vacant (super dirty windows, unmowed lawns, etc.) but it was only maybe 2 homes that I could find. I'm definitely interested in Woodland so I was also looking to get a tax delinquent list as well. Looks like the list is $250 according to Yolo County Tax collector but it's just a word document with parcel numbers and amount owed. 

Has anyone found better resources for this area? I'd love to get into a property that I could house hack and repair a bit then eventually turn into a straight rental.

Thanks!

Austin

Hey all! 

1. I was driving in Woodland, CA trying to find some vacant/rundown homes and as I was driving ended up calling one of the real estate agents (Golden State Realty Group) on a home for sale to just start getting acquainted with things. Long story short I'm now in the middle of getting pre-qualified with Guild Mortgage Company, specifically wiht Monty (unsure of last name). 

Question is - does anyone have some strong opinions of either company from working with them in the past? Looking to buy first property in the next 6 months and not super familiar with local companies.

Thank you!

Hey all, so I saw one discussion previously where someone looked like they were successfully renting out travel trailers in mobile home parks. But I was wondering if anyone had looked into parking a travel trailer/RV on one of their own properties and renting it out for some additional income. They're pretty cheap and lots of properties have the extra room. Seems like you could basically add a rental property for under 5k to a space you already own.  Am I underestimating the difficulty on this?

Seems like you could just tie into the homes electricity, water, and a septic.

Looking for some advice on this - I was listening to a podcast recently (it may have been the PB, but I listen to a lot) and one of the guests mentioned that they find off market houses by getting lists of homes that have recently been transferred in a will. They look for properties where the new owner's address is listed as in another state, or at least far away assuming that the hassle of dealing with an out of state property will motivate the owner to sell.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the podcast to figure out how the heck they got this list so I thought I'd reach out as I couldn't find anything already in the forums.  It seemed brilliant and really want to give it a go. I live in Vacaville, CA (near Sacramento) and I'm looking to do some house hacking and rent out a room or two to get my first investment property and most likely hold it as a rental property.

Thanks!

Daniel, 

Looks like you and I are in similar positions and I'm also in the Vacaville area. I'm definitely new to all this but looking to learn quick and surround myself with like minded, motivated peers. 

Feel free to hit me up if you'really looking for something similar. I'm not really a mentor but it never hurts to know people.

Cheers