All Forum Posts by: Bao Nguyen

@Kim Knox Some good suggestions.  Thanks for the input.

 I'm a buy and hold investor, so no selling from me, just buying.  I am an all cash buyer.  Again, the reason why I don't buy is not because I can't - it's because the properties presented to me are not investment worthy.  The agents I've worked with are usually very good at presenting great properties for couples that could fall in love with the neighborhood, the updated kitchen, or the unique purple siding, etc.  My decisions lack emotions and is based all on what kind of returns I can get from my purchase.  

I would appreciate an agent that is blunt and honest and tell me to go away, I'm ok with that.  

@Sam Leon I am comfortable with doing my own due diligence: figuring out recently sold comps, writing offers, etc, I am from my area, and do drive-bys everyday, so I know these neighborhoods in and out - I have even befriended some closing companies and property inspectors that are ready for me to give them work.  I only need an agent to unlock the door.  I agree with you though, that going directly to the LA seems like a better idea since they get double commission, and more inclined to help you close the deal faster.  I would follow your advice and hook up my agent with a few closings on some properties that  I found to make up for "abused history", but there's no incentive for me to keep calling my buyer's agent if I'm the one that's finding all the leads.

@NA Jones  "Mrs. Bao".  lol!  No Mrs. Bao yet.  I think it might be easier for me to just go knock on doors to find sellers than finding a willing Mrs Bao to help.  All kidding aside, it's the time, and not the cost, that's the issue.  Being a licensed Realtor means I have to work a minimum number of hours with a broker to keep my license current and active.  I can't/don't want to afford that time spent working for a broker.  Although this might be something I should re-think.

 Certainly I would.  I see nothing wrong with this.

@Cierra Seay The reason why I don't buy is because it's not a good investment that would return the COC rate I'm seeking. The properties I look at are properties below 50k that requires rehab - listings only take good pictures, and leaves out the damaged areas. Only once we see the house in person can we fully assess what the repair costs are, and factoring repair costs, it does not make sense to purchase.

I find that agents are really good at giving me a listing of "predefined, database queryable" properties: 3/2 properties in x, y, z areas that are under xxxxx thousands of dollars..etc. As an investor, I'm willing to buy in all areas, no matter the condition nor the number of bedrooms or baths, as long as that property (fully fixed up) can return k% COC. It appears that my criterias are not what realtors are used to working with.

It's true that I think everyone should get paid, but at the same time, I don't think it makes a lot of sense for me to pay my realtor since I have not received any properties from him that is investment worthy.  I do try to help him out by always calling him to show properties that I think could be investment-worthy so he can get some commission if I do purchase.  However, I'm starting to lean towards just dealing with the listing agent of each property to make things easier.

Question for all real estate agents: How do you deal with people who looks at lots of properties, but never seems to buy any?

As an investor, I look at a lot of homes and properties and I go for months, if not a year without buying anything (on the MLS anyways - I do buy off the MLS all the time), and all the while, my realtor is driving around showing me all these properties. I feel bad. I truly believe that no one should work for free.

To be honest, I would be ok with my realtor saying "hey Bao, I'm not going to show you any more properties because frankly I don't want to invest in the gas and time anymore".  I'd be perfectly fine with that honesty, it would make it easier for me to just call up the listing agent of the property, and I'd just hop from listing agent to listing agent, instead of sticking to 1 agent that might sell me 1 property every 12 months, after 50+ showings during those 12 months.

So for now, due to the need to be loyal, I keep calling up the same realtor and feeling bad that this person is driving around showing me properties that I most likely not close on, and this hesitation to look at as many properties as possible might hurt my chances of finding a good property.

So how do you realtors out there back away from people like me?  Perhaps my realtor is already giving me these signals, but I'm too dense to pick up on it.  :-)

@William Hochstedler @Bill Gulley Thanks for the excellent input guys.  Very good points that I need to have in the back of my head when looking at apartments.

@Jonathan Twombly Thank you for the input. I do see a 6-10 unit apartment buildings occasionally, where all units are 1/1. I've been biased to focus on 3 bedroom units (whether SFH or apartments or duplexes, etc). But I guess I need to realize there's opportunities in 1/1 as well, from what people are saying. I will definitely pay more attention to apartments with all 1/1.

Property taxes are $306/year?! Wow..I'm in Lansing, MI (one of the less expensive real estate in the country) and even here property taxes (for rentals) are $1500+/year for the SFH in the worst neighborhoods.

Great cash flow!

In my area, I've noticed a lot of multifamily properties with 4 to 12 units, and all units are 1/1.  In my opinion, and correct me if I'm wrong, 1/1 units are useless.  Who rents a 1 bedroom, 1 bath?  College students, and people who needs a place for a few months - a year max...or worse yet, an family that's trying to save money and cramming everyone into 1 bedroom.

In any scenario, 1/1 renters don't stay long, and the turnover rate is high.  As a buy and hold investor, I try to keep turnover to a minimum - I don't want a job as leasing consultant - it's much easier to just go apply for a W2 leasing consultant job at the nearest apartment complex than it is to buy $100k+ properties so I can make this job for me.

I would imagine multifamily properties with 3beds, 1bath+ are ideal - they attract stable and long term tenants.  

So why would anyone buy/build an apartment building with 8 units, all 1/1?!