All Forum Posts by: DG A.

@Simon Stahl 

Looks like they didn't touch the exemptions to rent control (and just cause eviction) for owner occupied properties of 3 units and below. *wipes sweat from forehead*

I'm in the middle of a deal where that is lynchpin. 

@Kathy Henley What rent control bill are you referring to? I'm curious, and would love to give that a read through. 

Hey Guys, 

Question here. I'm in contract on a new duplex (for those of you I've talked to, the last one didn't work out). The property is in Fruitvale in Oakland, and it's zoned RM-2 (A mix of residential and small multi-family homes are permitted in this area).


I want to make more cashflow from this property. And I wonder if I can place a mobile home in the back yard of this duplex, and then rent the mobile home out?


There are some really cheap mobile homes out there (granted they need some work, but not that much): http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/K...


I have 2 basic questions here.


1. Is it possible to just park a mobile home in my back yard and rent it out? (in Oakland CA)? Seems like a really easy way to acquire a very cheap house/building and rent it out for a considerably more. A $16,000 mobile home with 1 bedroom and 1 bath could pay for itself in 2-3 years if you rent it out for $1,000/month (well below market rent for a 1 bedroom in Oakland).


2. Could you pour a foundation and permanently fix the mobile home to the ground? ........ Then making the mobile home into real property?

After the mobile home pays for itself, it still has a considerable life left, and could significantly increase cashflow for a long time to come.

I went up to Oregon this past weekend, and I spent the night at a friend's mobile home. They bought it for $8,000. And I was blown AWAY! Aside from the stigma that mobile homes have, their house was roomy and felt like any other apartment in a small multifamily from the inside. 

Oakland has some specific rules on in-law units, but I'm wondering if Mobile homes can be converted into "in-law" units: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/report/oak028577.pdf

"Just an example -one of my best friends is Filipino. She married a white guy who fortunately finds her culture and massive extended family charming lol." 

Does that mean that........... most white guys unfortunately, would not not find Filipno culture charming? And also not find her massive extended family charming?

If that is what it means, I suppose your Filipino friend is very lucky!

Welcome @Jeremy Moura

What kind of work you do now?

I would imagine the background in construction must come in very handing when getting bids on work you can't / don't want to do yourself. 

@J. Martin I was asking, because of this awesome "American Dream Loan" that's for first time buyers (meaning owned no real estate in the last 3 years). It's a 3% down loan, and requires no PMI. It blows FHA out of the water!

My boy @Conor Hesch is the guy that hooked me up. It dropped out ~$500/month in PMI expense, and set me up VERY nicely in my duplex. PITI will be $3,322 and the unit will rent at $2,500 - $2,700. I'll get a room mate, and I'll be living for the cost of utilities and repairs! :)

Here's PDF on the loan: http://bluecollar.chatnfiles.com/projects/hcci-ks-v2/Housing/USBankAmericanDream.pdf

Ah ok, I had a suggestion. It doesn't apply in this case. 

@Leno Bellomo

Is this your first property? More specifically, have you owned any real estate in the last 3 years?

^Niiiiice! I'm not the only one. Means I'm not crazy! :)

Hey Ofer, 

It's super competitive in Oakland. I started shopping back in December, and just got into contract this month. In-fact, I had to go off the MLS to find a deal that I was willing to buy. I really liked my buyer's agent, and we made aggressive offers... 15% some times 20% over list price, and we were still getting beat out by other offers.

I would suggest NOT working with a buyers agent. A "hack" that I figured out to get "inside information" on deals was to contact the seller's agent and ask them to represent me. What that does is incentivize the seller's agent to sell to me, because they get a double commission.  Once the seller's agent is in position to get a double commission, they'll give you all the inside baseball on the deal and the other offers you're competing against. You've got to be comfortable more or less handling the transaction "on your own" because it's hard for the listing agent to truly arrive at the best outcome for the seller and buyer doing a double agency. Towards the end of my 6 months shopping, I had learned enough to be comfortable navigating the whole deal by myself. 

I ultimately found an FSBO, the owners of that property were doing things "the old school way" where you list high and try to get offers to come up... while in Oakland right now most listing agents are listing low to cause a bidding war. I was able to get a great deal on the duplex I bought because the sellers listed their property too high and didn't get any competing offers. I probably got the duplex at a 10% discount.

I'm not sure how long you've been looking, but I made a ton of offers, and nothing seemed to work out until I went off market. You're buying with cash though, and my deal was financed.