All Forum Posts by: Chris Lopez

@Jared V. I went from LA to Denver. I understand your feelings about the California real estate market. 

About two years ago my wife and I started exploring different cities. We got a Southwest Companion pass by getting two SW credit cards for the points. We both flew 20+ free to different cities. Saved us a ton of money. If you Google it, there are a lot of blog articles about getting it. Worth checking out!

I lived in Sacramento for a year and really enjoyed it. It's a cool city. Portland was on our list too.... but we enjoy sunshine too much!

Denver won out for us. We were looking for a city to raise our family and that had REI opportunity. Denver is a Great city, lots of sunshine, and very affordable compared to CA.

Are you looking to buy your potential house hack, rent it out and then move into it? Or are you just talking about a straight rental?

We considered buying a rental and then turning it into a primary home before moving, but didn't. I'm glad. Too many variables with personal stuff!

if you ever want to chat about Denver, let me know. Happy New Year.

@Mark Leavitt thanks for the mention!

@Derek Perez - Multis don't work in Colorado? That's a blanket statement! Can you elaborate? In Denver, multis are not giving the best return, but they still work.

I can send you over some data for multi unit investing that is Denver focused. But, if you're buying up north, talk with @James Orr. He knows the market and data up there.

@Nathan Oberle Welcome to Bigger Pockets! It's a great resource. My favorite resource is the forums. It's a great place to learn and network. Definitely, take the time to setup keywords and scan the daily digest. 

More specifically, what your goals and interests? 

If you ever want to grab a cup of coffee and chat real estate, let me know!

@Darius Falahkhir, definitely give @Marc Cunningham a call! I recommend him to many of my clients. He's knowledgeable and runs a great business.

@Rick Watt congrats on the first one! Glad to be a part of your investing journey!

@Austin Allan Don't worry about having a really detailed or thorough business plan at the beginning. There's too much that you just don't know. A simple plan that is 1 to 2 pages will suffice. As you start taking action, you can get more detailed.

You really don't need to get too fancy. I keep my weekly tasks very simple by categorizing them as "money making activities." It's a simple way for me to determine what I should spend my time on. 

Does reading XYZ and cleaning my office make me money? NOPE

Does networking and putting quality content make me money? YES

It's a really simple YES or NO decision for me then.

I simply work backwards from my desired outcome. If you want to make 100k year, then figure out how many deals that I would have to do. Standard commission is 2.8%. Assume a 70/30 split (You keep 70, brokerage keeps 30) 2.8% * 70% = 1.96% 

100k / 1.96% commission  = 5.1 million dollars in real estate to sell. 

Divide that by the average home cost (5,100,000/400,000) = 12.7 deals. 

How many people do you need to network with to achieve 13 deals?

Of course, I'm not assuming expenses in there... but hopefully you get the idea.

I agree with the others, find a team or mentor that you can work with. 

Thanks @Craig Curelop!

Thanks @Graham T. for the shoutout!

@Jim Shonts Wow, a 6.9 cap for a duplex is really good. Was that based on your 75k+ over asking price offer? What were the rest of the numbers like? I did quite a bit of research into multis a couple of months ago. I'll send over you over what I found. It was interesting!

@Bryan Henry I'm assuming you're talking about a straight buy and hold rental, correct?

First off, as long as you use leverage,  you'll most likely outperform the stock market. I learned from one of @Charles Roberts classes that a 6% cap rate property with 25% down still still greatly outperform the stock market. He went into some interesting data analysis. 

Condos and townhomes are 7.5 - 8.5 cap. 10-15% cash on cash return. 

Multis are 5 to 6.5

Single-family homes vary depending on location.

If your bench mark is just to beat the S&P 500, don't worry too much about which property type to buy... just buy using leverage!