All Forum Posts by: David Song

I only buy properties around myself, with potential to appreciate and with current positive cash flow. IMO, it is a compromise between appreciation and cash flow. You can not only rely on cash flow. If the property depreciates over time, your cash flow may not be that real.

If that is a bubble, look at China. The median income is around $10000 per year in shanghai, housing price is around half million to 1 million US dollars for a small apartment. That is a real bubble!

I just bought a mobile home park in Modesto. It cash flows well.

Hold for long term. Adjust the rent to market. Refinance out the cash. Do not sell. California is a different place. Buy and hold is much better than short term profit. Appreciation is more important than cash flow in ca. Every time I drove past the houses that I sold in the last 8 years, I recognize how much money has been lost. Luckily I still hold the majority of the houses. It will be a pity if you sell your your ca house now and regret 2 years later. If you sell the old one and buy a new one, the property tax would likely triple. You would be faced with capital gain taxes. Not worth it.

It seems that 200 k above list is normal here. One house I looked at, in San Mateo, about 70 years old, needs almost a complete rehab. It is located in the worst area of San Mateo. I saw the open house in march, listed for 850 or so. Only 1500 sf. I thought this is overpriced a little. I have 3 properties in the area so I know this market well. It will rent for around 3500-4000. Two month later, the listing agent called me and said the damn house sold for 1.2 million, and wants to list my house. I do not know who bought this sucker. Or maybe the market is going up crazy again 2017?

This is really entertaining. Lol.

If you have a full time job, donot join other brokerage. They normally require a desk fee and a split on any deals you do. Since you are a broker, you can do deals by yourself. I got my broker license a few years ago and used it exclusively for my own investment. About 15 transaction. Also helped a number of my friends buy their home in 2013, and refunded them all the buyer side commission. The license is really valuable. Good luck.

I have one section 8 tenant. Old veteran. Great tenant.

I have a broker license just for my own property uses. Broker license is valuable to an investor, much more so than a salesman license. For the dozen property that I bought and a few I sold during the last 5 years, the license is worth about $15-30k per transaction, and totaled about 300k to 500 k, with very little expense. Furthermore, with mls access and realtor only information for property evaluation, it is extremely valuable when picking properties and negotiating prices.

Ori Skloot great job and congratulation. All my properties are in the Bay Area, BARR does work in Bay Area. Actually, it should work better since the price per sf here is higher.