All Forum Posts by: DL Martin

Gabe;

I really wonder if there is such a thing as a professional building inspector...

Next time I buy a complex I am going to pay my roofer a flat fee to inspect the roof, my hvac guy a flat fee to inspect the boilers and my electrician a flat fee to inspect the boxes and the exterior services. I'll inspect everything else myself. 

DL

p.s. I have yet to find a "professional building inspector" who is a degree'd engineer of any type. 

Hi Sanjeev.

Is it possible that you have a C class property in a D class neighborhood? Maybe you are surrounded by D class tenants??

What makes a C class a C class?

DL

Ami;

I have an Uncle and Aunt who live in West Chicago. The property tax on their middle class home is insane. My point is that even though you love your home and the 3.45% mortgage, when you consider total housing costs, I wonder if you are ever really going to be able to "get ahead" of that monthly expense. 

Your wife needs to really take a hard look at downsizing. 

Is the appreciation on your home super strong? If so, then disregard my point. 

Good Luck Buddy.

DL

Mr Mike Fletcher is a Troll. 

I wish that @Will Barnard would chime in on this thread.

Los Angeles/Orange is a different animal. Always has been. Always will be.  

Median income, median income, median income blah blah blah.

Median income means NOTHING in SoCal. 

Would everyone agree that policemen and firemen are pretty "average" in income?  

Q: Anyone have an idea what percentage of policemen/firemen in Los Angeles/Orange/Riverside/SanDiego Counties own a home????  

A: 100%. 

(Without exception, other than single guys who are LIVING THE LIFE, 4 to a house at the beach or in the Hollywood Hills, renting for $6k to $8k per month because they CHOOSE to.  ask me how i know....)

FACT:  LOSERS LIKE ME, CHICKEN OUT AND RUN FOR CASH FLOW STATES  (in my case Ohio), BECAUSE WE ARE NOT SMART ENOUGH OR WILLING TO DO THE WORK, NECESSARY TO INVEST IN CALIFORNIA. 

Personally, I am praying for a collapse in the California SFR real estate market so that I can buy a second home in coastal San Diego County, Monterey, CA or maybe Paso Robles, CA. But it ain't gonna happen.

DL

p.s.  I bought a 4 plex in Socal in 2000. In 2015 I sold it and 1031 exchanged (almost straight across, dollar for dollar) for a 39 unit in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio.  

I also sold 3 SoCal SFR's that I bought, lived in, rented out and then sold when I retired in 2015. (This is in addition to the 5018 sq ft. + 921 sq ft garage custom home that my wife General Contracted in 2008-2009 and that we lived in until we sold in 2015.) Even during the "Bubble Melt Down' of 2008-2009, we made $200k when we sold the house in late 2015. I was pissed that we didn't make $400k because we were paying property taxes, year in and year out, on a property that should have netted us $400k when we sold).

But the BP Trolls know it all....

California "appreciation" sucks

This.

Baltimore had an excellent Chief of Police (or whatever they call it there) in Tony Batts. Tony is a pompous ***, and never took the time to become a great street cop, BUT he was an excellent, EFFECTIVE administrator and Chief of Police for many years in Long Beach, California. 

And Baltimore chased him out. That tells me everything I need to know about the City of Baltimore. 

The "last mayor" that you refer to above was a real piece of work and one of the main reasons that Tony was fired. The "stand down" issue was total fake news and the reason that I know this is that Batts is VERY well experienced in tactical operations (SWAT) and, I believe, was one of the pioneers in "mobile field force" creation. 

It is utterly and completely outside the realm of possibility that Tony Batts would stand by and let people be injured or allow buildings to be burned. Not Possible. Tony Batts is a "first man through the door", ego driven, results oriented type of person.

DL 

They already refinanced that rental. They took the money and paid off their credit cards, their Suburban and their boat. They also went on a nice vacation. And then "helped out" their parents. 

It's a California thing. 

DL

One bedroom or two bedroom? 

Zip code? 

Without that information I cannot tell you if $1,000 per month per unit is possible.

DL

Why not eliminate agents altogether? 

Brokers could hire Bonded, Insured, back ground checked, polygraphed, "Mobile Notary" type Facilitators  who meet buyers at listings, escort the buyers through the property and act as an electronic conduit to the broker during the showing, utilizing FaceTime or Skype. Independent third party private contractors, like mobile notaries and RE appraisers...

Buyers pay for the showing via Iphone 30 minutes prior to the showing so that the Facilitator doesn't waste a trip to the property. Further, the broker doesn't need to "break his momentum" until he/she sees that the showing was actually paid for. 

If the showing gets paid for, then the Facilitator drives to the property, meets the buyer and shows the buyer through the house. 15 minutes into the 30 minute showing, the Facilitator pulls up the broker (or the broker's designee) on FaceTime. The buyer asks any questions about the property and if the buyer is interested in purchase, the buyer tells the broker that he/she will be enroute to the listing agent office to make the offer OR that the broker's RE attorney will be forwarding an offer to the agent via Docusign. 

Fire away. LOL !!!

DL

I have purchased 10 or 15 Home Depot Item #481-143 for my apartment complex. The price is $126 today. Sometimes the Online Price drops to $94 and that is when I usually buy a few and then just pickup at the store. They were $114 for nearly a year and then they jumped to $124 and then $126 recently...

Make sure that you check for left hand or right hand.  ; )

DL

p.s. They are metal/sturdy once installed,  but are very lightweight.