All Forum Posts by: Dave Nixon

If you mean right on the ocean, be aware that there are many houses built on stilts within a block or two of the beach e.g.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/321-N-Waccamaw-...

those stilts are really cheap hurricane insurance and add a free carport or storage if enclosed.

Another possible strategy that lowers the risk but also lowers the rewards is to keep your existing property and rent a house in Milpitas. You can rent or lease  a really nice big house in Milpitas for about $4.4k e.g.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/apa/d/large-execu...

If the economy really tanks you can move out your Santa Clara tenants and return there. Otherwise your monthly outflow is a more modest $3.7k net and you will still get any market appreciation on the Santa Clara house. Meanwhile you can invest the $500k downpayment in cheaper markets.

And yet another option would be to try to get a lease option deal on a Milpitas house that locks in a purchase price for say 5 years, by which time it may be a no-brainer to purchase if the market has appreciated, but if the market goes south you can treat it like a rental and walk away or renegotiate the deal (lower price).

Are you the same person referenced in this Yahoo Finance story from 2014?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/anton-ivanov-millionaire-story-truth-210757837.html

New carpet/flooring, repaint everything including the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, remove any wallpaper and replace drapes worked on my house that had heavy cigarette odor and yellowing.

Sounds like you plan to flip agents as well as properties... :-)

Depends on the tenants - most would enjoy $50 off rent, but many would fail to keep up with the long term obligation to mow. Then you have a problem. Maybe offer them a larger annual rebate of $250 (half the monthly amount) in December just in time for the holidays IF they have kept the yard tidy all year.

Get professional tax advice, but I think it would save you a bundle to live in it, refi to get your money out, and get homeowner tax break when/if you sell. The danger is the rehab may not get done as quickly if you are living there, or you may see that as an advantage to be able to take your time.

A couple of hours away may be technically out of state but you can certainly do many property management tasks like rehab, finding tenants, mowing the grass when it's vacant etc that you would otherwise have to pay someone to do. You may want to line up a local handyperson to respond to emergencies or things that need fixing quickly. Or just pay a property manager for peace of mind.

My first flip was in OH and I am in CA and getting things to happen was slow and difficult until I flew there and spent 10 days getting things organized.

Is your tax bracket higher than your Mom's? If so would make more sense for you to take advantage of tax breaks as owner and lease or rent it back to your Mom. Paying off your step-dad and having him move out seems a good idea. Not sure why you would convert to a duplex unless it's too much house for your Mom by herself. For a shared title need to decide whether joint tenants or tenants in common - get legal advice.

There are various free online calculators that can help with this. Google "estimating construction costs online" should produce a few to choose from. This site also has a rehab estimator tool ( see the tools menu above) but it's only free the first 5 times you use it.