All Forum Posts by: David L.

 Good tip but how does the process work in vetting a good local PM? Do you skype, do a face to face interview or just phone interview? Do you do a trial run to see if they work or a probationary period? 

I'm more curious about your hands off process of buying the actual property without seeing it.

 This is interesting. So if you didnt see the property did your rely on the agent and inspector, etc. to just relay the information to you with the final check being done by yourself during the due diligence phase of esrow? 

When you're building a team, everyone knows what members should be a part of it but if you're out-of-state, how do you find the people and know they're going to be reliable? For example, a good handyman for all the emergency repair work. I could look at craigslist (I have before) or yellowpages, yelp, etc. or get a referral and basically have his contact info as a retainer. But I don't want to wait until the first problem arises at 3am about a water leak to call him to find out he's not available or completely unreliable. How do you test him out?

@Logan Allec thanks for the suggestion i started to so it's between that area, high desert and maybe riverside which is more expensive.

Anyone know about buying just 1 apartment unit and renting it out? Option 3. Similar to renting out your condo situation but not sure of the ownership and rules. Searches are yielding only apartment complexes and multi family

@Mike D'Arrigo that's pretty much the problem. Traditional financing won't cut it on those deals usually they're cash only and far more expensive than other markets in the country. Which leaves me the only other options I've listed.

I'm been burning thru podcasts and forum posts. There are so many different opportunities you can get into, it's a bit nerve racking on choosing which path to go.

I am looking at the Los Angeles market (or within 2hours). Target range of $170k or lower. Which means not many options. Any guidance or thoughts appreciated.

Option #1: SFH in the inland valley under $170k is still hard to come by and the distance of having to drive out there and such is a consideration. There's San Bernardino but from posts I've seen I'm not willing to invest in that area. Pomona and Riverside seem to have some of the lower priced housing. If anything, a little worrisome since they have a lot of low priced properties on the MLS. Is there anything in this area that is troublesome?

I would prefer to buy and hold. Flipping is okay and starting on my first deal as a flip will help me get some cash for a large downpayment and give me more opportunities for my 2nd deal. I have flipped 1 property in the past so working with contractors/subs is not new to me, as well as doing comps and selling/staging. Those are all fine, it's finding the deals that are very difficult. I have MLS access and nothing on the MLS is showing 50% AFV. Foreclosures may be one way to go but I have such little financing to work with that anything outside of cosmetic, I won't get lending. Open to flips but haven't seen much opportunity for me given the financing. Hard money is something I am looking into but I don't have 30% down on my end.

Option #2: go out further and flip or buy/hold in the desert. Property out there is cheaper. Vacancy scares me, seems like a crapshoot. I've seen listings for a 2bed house for $650 rent sit for 4mo+. 

Option #3: Buy an apartment or condo for cash flow. I found an apartment for $150k the outskirts of LA. Not too far, near stores and a downtown area. Not the worst area but it does have bad areas. It's a 1bed/1ba. With 7% down, the estimated mortgage payment is $900 according to zillow calculator. Rent according to Zillow/Realtor.com in the area seems to be around $1200-1400 for 1bed/1ba on the same street with the same sq ft. HOA is $300. Total is $1200/mo. Unit is completely turn key and remodeled. Currently the profit is between $0 and $200. I can increase this number by putting more down as well as finding a tenant who will pay $1400 but it's no guarantee I can charge that high.

The prelim numbers seem to work. What am I missing? It's also close to where I live and work, I won't be requiring a property manager I will manage it myself. Any cash flow would be saved for expense fund and then a year later, refinance into another unit in the area. 

Thoughts? 

@Jenna Y. Thanks for that. For clarification, you're saying that if someone bought land out in 29 palms already with electricity, they can't just park their RV or camper and live there? Not that I plan to but I think that scenario is quite common. Unless I misunderstood. 

What type of deals are you working there? I'm not looking into building it was just something I was curious about. Long term tenant rentals seems to unstable with the high vacancy in 29 palms. Looking at vacation rentals or flips in Joshua tree as LA and the city is just too expensive with low cap rates for rentals and heavily competitive. 

 I was looking actually in the 29 palms or joshua tree, yucca valley area. This isnt for investment or so at my own endeavors to have a nice place to live with the land costs so cheap. 

I always see land for sale really cheap in the rural areas of nowhere and always wondered how much it would cost to develop out in the middle of the desert. 

Anyway, what does it mean when the ad refers to a water meter or electrical meter? The context would be a 15 acre lot of land and it says "Water meter paid" No mention of electrical. So is that a fee that you pay the city or the power/water department and if so, how much does it cost to ACTUALLY get water to the place?

What about a cost of a septic tank for drainage either an outhouse or an RV? Looking at some homestead housing options

Well, time to check that city off my list. I'm curious how you get a conceal carry in CA lol

 Thanks. I'm looking slightly more north. Above Roosevelt and def right side of the 17. My immediate goal would be a place that I can actually live (I'm not quitting my job anytime soon) and cash flow so that a duplex or guest house will cover half or all of the mortgage and i can live for free or close to it. That would increase my savings rate from my income to where I can start branching out to more expensive deals. It'll also help me get familiar with the market. I'll be happy if I don't LOSE any money when I decide to leave AZ while the cash flow helped me out DURING. 

Paying $1800 for a 1bed here in socal.. if I can make that work and bring my personal rent down to $0 while holding property, that'll be a very good reason for me to move to AZ and get my feet wet. Still would be holding down a full time job.