All Forum Posts by: Donald E Appleberry

@Phillip Moreno

Hey Phillip,

Full transparency I'm an Agent in SD who helps people use the VA loan to invest. Sounds like you got the head start so congrats!

With how rates are right now, I'd suggest looking into a cash out refinance. Lower your monthly on your VA property and pull out a decent amount of equity. You could potentially just move out of VA financing and reuse the VA loan for a multi family on top of the equity you pull out. But if you're working with a family I could see this not being as attractive as an option.

I like HELOCs and think they can serve you pretty well. I just prefer the refinancing route when it comes to the VA loan. I'm glad you're using it for investing and hope you enjoy the investing journey!

All the best,

Donald Appleberry

@Derek Cornell

Hey Derek,

I always start by letting the OP know full disclosure I'm an Agent in SD. I mainly stick with helping VA clients as I'm prior military myself and that's where my hearts at. Haha. Anyway!

If you’re looking for immediate cash flow, SD will be challenging. Not impossible, but manage expectations when searching. SD is incredible for long term purchases and its very easy to fill rentals with good renters.

The issue is everyone wants to live here! So prices are higher than a lot of markets. Making it a longer wait to cash flow. I’d suggest looking a little East toward Santee if that’s your main focus. Oceanside and Chula Vista are my favorite long term plays. Downtown is a safe bet obviously, especially on 5th Avenue. They’re removing the road and making it all walking so expect there to be a boost in prices there.

There’s a lot we could talk about and if you’re up for it let’s grab a coffee or hit a brewery in downtown. PM me for my contact info if you want!

All the best,

Donald Appleberry

@Jeremiah Watkins

Hey Jeremiah,

I work in downtown SD. I primarily focus on helping people use the VA loan to invest. If you're interested in talking I'd be glad to help. Feel free to check out my social media accounts to verify what I'm saying.

My goal in SD county is to build a VA investing community and help EVERYONE discover the power real estate can have. I'm holding a meet up next month in Downtown. You should swing by!

Even if you don’t want me as your agent, I’ll give you advice and my opinion on questions you may have. Hope to talk soon!

All the best,

Donald Appleberry

@Sebastien Carriere

Hey man,

Full transparency I'm a real estate agent in SD. Prior Recon Marine. Got into real estate about 4 years ago. I help people use the VA loan to invest, not just buy a temporary home.

With that being said, it depends. You definitely can pay about the same price for owning home. MAYBE a little less. However your principal paydown, appreciation, and potential rental income serve you 1000000000 times better for a 3 year stretch. I’m assuming that’s how long your orders are.

I’m in escrow with a Marine client for a $1.13M triplex, but due to rental income his mortgage is less than $1500. Yet, he’s getting the benefits from owning that property. (Seller is also paying him 15k for closing costs) in the end, it’s doable. Just be careful on your lender and agent you work with. Like most industries, there’s people without a sound moral compass.

Feel free to text or call me (PM me for number). Even if you don't want to use me I'll help how I can. I'm holding a real estate meet up in downtown SD soon as well, come by and chat with other VA investors. Check out "From Military to Millionaire " on Facebook too. David is a good friend of mine and writes for BP occasionally. Hope this helped!

All the best,

Donald Appleberry

Hey everyone!

So, I'm in real estate in San Diego with Discher Group as a soon to be agent. Passed all the tests and what not but I've been on hold for a while due to a ticket from 2015. Wild. Anyway, I've been working with someone who brought me this deal. 10 residential units (8 SFR/2 Duplexs) and a commercial property not currently in use. The commercial is along the lines of a dentist office or local attorneys office you'd see in a midwest town. Now to the issue.

These properties are coming from a long time investor who's doing a 1031 from OH to SC. They've managed them well and the properties are good rentals with LONG time tenants. Most over a decade. Rent's are under market but I'm not sure it'd be worth raising them at the cost of losing good tenants. Still looking into it. The 2 duplex's are section 8. I was redflagged immediately but after looking at the units and their tenants its all good. They're asking $1M, and we haven't done the appraisals, but looking into it I think its worth just a hair over that without even tying in the commercial property. Like I said its not in use so there's no rental income from it currently. The rest however, generate $11k-$12,500K a month in gross rent. I won't have the exact number until after Christmas. They have lives too so they're just very busy atm. I've secured 80% funding from private money to include any repairs if I decide to BRRR any of the properties. I'm going to use a new LLC once we are under contract together and purchase through it. Now that the wave tops have been hit, here's my problem. In order to use the private money I've secured I need to come up with the other 20-25% (obviously) and since this is my first large purchase I don't have 250-270k lying around.

I've put together a business plan for the LLC and this buy and am looking at getting the 270K through an SBA loan.(270K is the number I came up with including the initial appraisals and inspections) The portfolio will cashflow day one and cover all expenses easily so the only issue I see them having is that I've never taken on this large of a deal. The other 2 deals I've done were in Springfield, MO and were seller financing. Went super smooth and was pretty simple. Anyway back to the issue at hand, The first SBA pre approval I talked to would approve me for 100k only since that was their cap. (Was not aware when we first started talking) So I know I can at least access that. I have about 60k I can leverage through my personal funds and credit lines if needed. But I'm still falling short and I don't want to miss this deal.

Like I said I did a business plan over the area and appreciation, job market, owner vs renter ratio, and initial cash flow is all really good. Is there another route I can take to secure this deal I'm overlooking or don't know about? I've been looking at partnering with someone who can close the gap, and if you're interested hit me up and I'll send my numbers and overview. I wanted to play this one close to the chest and find a way to cover it myself, but 50% of a deal is better than 100% of no deal. I know there isn't an insane amount of info here but any feedback or advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks in advance,

Donald Appleberry

If you're interested in potentially partnering here's my facebook to see numbers and overview. https://www.facebook.com/Donal...

I'm in a VERY similar situation so I've been putting a lot of thought into this as well. Pretty much the only exception is I'm looking at property in Missouri. I know there are a few duplexes up towards oceanside that could cashflow and Chula Vista is a pretty good spot to invest for long term right now as well. Of course it's going to boil down to what you end up making your higher priority, but I would go with getting a home base for you and your family. Plus with rent control coming up you may want to look into how that would affect renting your units our here as well. I have a video I put up about it as well as the bill itself on my facebook if you're curious. 

Kind Regards,

Donald Appleberry.

Thanks for the comments and I sorry for the insanely late response. I'm actually an agent with Discher Group (Douglass Elliman company) here in San Diego and I attend the meet ups around here as well as hosting them. Alfredo, if you're still in the area and want to meet up let's do it!

Hey Everyone!

Although I'm new to the website, I've been following bigger pockets podcasts for over a year now.

I currently rent in Oceanside, CA; but I'm about to purchase my first home. I've always been interested in RE and I want my first deal to be a foundation and strategy for future deals.

The plan is to use a hard money lender, one in SD I came across, and purchase a discounted property. (Foreclosure/light fixer.) Then, refinance with the VA loan after it's been repaired and dressed up.

I've found a pretty great deal I believe. I'm negotiating the price now, but they are asking mid 300xxx. (I'm trying to get 250xxx but will work with them obviously.) Regardless the numbers look good. Ocean view, HUGE yard, and has a potential mother in law quarters or even a possible duplex capability.

My issues. I have money saved, but not enough to cover the down payment entirely. My credit is sitting at 740 after years of rebuilding when I decided I was going to become a RE investor, but due to my transitioning out of the Marine Corps, it looks doubtful I can get a traditional lender to back this.

I will have my RE license next month and am set up to be working with KW in Carmel Valley. I did a 1 month training course called "ignite" to help me understand the business and get some hands on myself.

Planning for the worst, let's assume I don't have a solid income stream yet. I have a job lined up for the police academy and also have a Board and Housing allowance from the DOD while attending school. I'm a Recon Marine and have attained a lot of lifelong injuries (and cool pictures) over my career. So I may have additional income due to those.

Last thing I promise! With all this layed out, I was hoping to get some input or advice from investors in the area or get some points of contact for groups or people that could help me resolve these few issues.

Thanks for sticking around for this long post! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!