All Forum Posts by: Colin Johnson

Hey @Matthew Swearingen. Some of those pitfalls would be potentially not seeing the home before you lock it under contract / losing out on deals because some other local investor can be more agile, inability to act quick due to lack of boots on the ground for whatever could come up (i.e. needing pictures but there is a uncooperative tenant, it's an absentee and the owner lives far away and inspection becomes more difficult to set up, etc.), convincing sellers to consider offers from an out-of-state investor (imagine good rapport should do the trick) - that type of thing. 

As far as California, it actually seems not as viable. It seems like there are a lot of investors and that it is a crowded market - as are many markets. I think this is exacerbated by the observation that the major population centers in California (Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego) are more expensive markets with potentially fewer motivated sellers - while Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno and the central valley (notably smaller population areas) are the only major viable areas. So while there are options, there is an overabundance of investors for the areas that that are good for real estate investors. This is keeping in mind that in a state of 40m people that there are a lot of investors focusing on a rather small set of areas. (Please correct me if you feel as though I am wrong though - but it's the feeling I've gotten thus far!)

I do not have any deals under my belt, but am extremely motivated. I understand that many folks talk about this stuff but end up not committing hard enough or just kind of peter out. I want to avoid the "I'm gonna work so hard" cliché. I'm extremely motivated, ready, and scanning for deals currently. I am very much looking forward to finding my first project through networking, deal hunting, and employing all the resources I have available to me! 

It'd be valuable to me if you are experienced to share you think about what I mentioned! 

@Mark Pedroza I see. If you don't mind my asking, would you say that the Roseville and Sacramento markets are investor-heavy and slightly crowded? What are your thoughts about the feasibility of out-of-state deals (especially considering this would be my first project). I'm definitely committed to being flexible to bring a deal to completion, but would love your take on how possible this is. 

Best,

Colin Johnson

Thanks everyone for your replies!

@Mark Pedroza sounds good. It does seem like most are utilizing Zoom for the time being. Do you mind my asking if you do any projects outside of your agent activities in the Roseville/Sacramento area?

@Matthew Swearingen Yeah, California seems like it's difficult to get started unlike the Midwest. I'm not sure the law is on the investors side in California in addition to what you mentioned. Do you do projects / deals in the Midwest from your home in Roseville? If so, how has that been for you during the pandemic? Are you frequently out there and do you feel that you're regularly finding and completing deals despite not being local? 

Out of state is definitely something I've been considering but the obvious pitfalls with that cause me to question whether I should put my time on that vs trying to make the Central Valley work. 

Hello All,

Like many before me I was a lurker on BP, soaking up all the information and searching the forums to hear about other people's experiences in Real Estate. I'm based in Northern California, and I am finding that the Real Estate community out here isn't as organized as I wish it was. While there are some real estate groups around, many of them aren't active or are a "school" in disguise using the guise as a Investment Club as a lead funnel.

What I'd really like to do is connect with some likeminded Real Estate investors and entrepreneurs in the Sacramento and Central Valley areas of California. I'm really looking forward to doing some deals here pretty soon and it'd be great if I could engage with the community a bit more (admittedly, it is much more difficult during Covid-19). 

If anyone else is a new investor, experienced investor, and would like to connect to grow our networks, please reach out to me! Definitely excited to get more involved here in California as an investor, but also here on the BP forums/community. 

Specifically, the types of projects I'll be working on are Fix & Flips and Wholesaling in Sacramento, Roseville, Modesto, Stockton, and nearby cities. Thanks for taking the time to read this, happy new year, and I look forward to meeting you all soon!

Colin Johnson
(925) 503-9090

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to add my 2 cents that while the software itself is pretty well put together and is helpful from a project management perspective and lead gen perspective, their customer support is particularly unhelpful. The packages are set up so that most of the value comes from the prime package, especially for newer entry-level real estate investors. This is fine, but is something to note.

Story Time: I was on the lowest tier package, but was randomly charged the entirety of the prime package price ($297) without ever instigating it. What's more is that even though I had plenty of time left in the month for the base package that I had already signed up for, I was still charged a full $297 for the prime package. This is on top of not having actually initiated signing up for the package. 

So I'd just be careful with it. The platform is certainly useful in the prime package ($297/mo.). It's definitely designed to "take your money". (i.e. You buy 'Flipster credits' which you can only buy in $100 increments which you use like tokens to use the marketing functions, lead functions, etc.) This may not bother you, but it was definitely a head scratcher being charged out of the blue for the higher package - and having to pay its entirety roughly 15 days after signing up for the base package. 

Hope this helps.