All Forum Posts by: Brian Garlington

When evaluating a rental property, if tenants are in the property and they are un-cooperative as far as letting inspectors, appraisers and/or previously SCHEDULED potential buyers walk through then it is a hard pass.

They are telegraphing that they will be difficult tenants to work with and receive payments from. I've  had this experience in Oakland, CA and Richmond, CA when buying rental properties. The good news is that there are so many rental properties in those areas that it is very easy to find one where the tenants ARE cooperative. Just closed on another one last month.

The easiest way for people to get clickbait is to have a title like this.///////////////but I digress.

To answer your question, no.

People keep thinking and hoping this will be like 2006-2008 so investors have an excuse to wait. 

In 2006-2008.....there was an overabundance of inventory on the market.

Is that the problem now? Quite the opposite.

In 2006-2008 the banks had been very creative in how they were qualifying people for loans. I knew of several married couples that worked as cooks for some very famous fast food chains that were getting 103% mortgage loans because they could NOT afford the down payment.

Is that the problem now? Quite the opposite.

People had no equity in their homes in 2006-2008 so the banks foreclosed.

Is that the problem? People have more equity in their home now then ever before.

Stop looking at clickbait articles online.

Well I can tell you that in Oakland, CA and Berkeley, CA a number of property managers have started steering away from Student Rentals for (probably) the same reason a lot of PMs are now getting away from them. Maybe you would want to consider AirBnBing them or simply putting long term tenants in there.

As the other poster said, you need to focus on what you really want and where you want.

Quote from @Nadine O.:

Hi BP Family! Where would you recommend living in USA to start house hacking and building a rental property business? The intent is to relocate from a high cost of living area like the Bay Area in California (although we love it here) to another, lower cost of living city where we can start by purchasing a multi-family to house hack (we are newbies, but have read a lot) and eventually build a portfolio of rental properties to retire off of. Would love to hear your thoughts - thank you!

Do you already own here in Concord? If so, refi, take some money out and start buying in cashflowing areas of the country and/or buy into a syndication.

Quote from @Frederic Babeux:

If they are paying market rent and are taking care of the unit, I see no issues.

Some people don't like section 8 because you hear about all the bad tenants mostly (I had one myself that had drug, violence and hoarding issues, swat team even knocked down two of my building's doors cause of said tenant)

But I think there is also a difference with regards to the region where your building is. Section 8 tenant in SF Bay area is probably much different than the Rochester, NY section 8 I had.

I think demographics play a big role in this and we should not jump to conclusions nor discriminate on the fact that a tenant is section 8.

Best of luck to you!

Section 8 has worked very well for me….and not just in Oakland, Ca, but in rentals in Concord, Ca as well as Cleveland, Ohio. In fact the only time I had any real trouble is with one tenant that my PM didn’t exactly screen properly. The cash tenants I (used to have) were a mixture of good and bad before the pandemic so I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have to deal with any of those during the pandemic and their “rent strike nonsense”. 🤦🏾

Quote from @Frederic Babeux:

If they are paying market rent and are taking care of the unit, I see no issues.

Some people don't like section 8 because you hear about all the bad tenants mostly (I had one myself that had drug, violence and hoarding issues, swat team even knocked down two of my building's doors cause of said tenant)

But I think there is also a difference with regards to the region where your building is. Section 8 tenant in SF Bay area is probably much different than the Rochester, NY section 8 I had.

I think demographics play a big role in this and we should not jump to conclusions nor discriminate on the fact that a tenant is section 8.

Best of luck to you!

You are in a very position. Between my own rentals  and having rented to dozens  of Section 8 tenants I would say are in good shape here. 

Quote from @Ryan Taylor:

Quote from @Brian Garlington:

Keep it simple....pass the Series 65 exam and keep it moving.

 Lol...I like the way you think. With muti-fam properties and a self storage facility...you sir are someone I would like to know.

 Looks like you may have served or are serving our country. If so,....Big Ups and Thank You.

Keep it simple....pass the Series 65 exam and keep it moving.