All Forum Posts by: Eric Chiang

Hi Raul,

Agree with many of the points that Dante has mentioned above, and was going to re-iterate the cash for keys option as well.

May want to check with your real estate agent if/how your owner occupied status would open any options as well.

Hi Cynthia! Like you, I am also a new investor located in the Los Angeles, CA area (thousand oaks, to be exact).

Agree with many of the points that Reed mentioned above. I also think it's important to first decide what type of living situation you'd be comfortable with. As you can image, you'd probably have a higher chance to profit if you're willing to live in a trailer/rent out the rooms of a SFH vs. buying a duplex and living in one of the units (although it's not the case for every scenario). It's all a matter of what you're comfortable with, and making sure the numbers work with your situation. In addition, you can also get creative with how to maximize the earnings from your property, such as building an additional dwelling unit (ADU).

I've definitely heard stories of people finding homes out of state, but just be mindful that you'd likely require a property manager and it wouldn't be considered a owner occupied loan, so you would have to factor those into your calculations. Can also take a look at turnkey properties.

Best of luck to us!

Hey Christopher!

Similarly to you, I've also been looking at househacking around the LA area/SoCal, but have also seen that the numbers don't work out unless the principle amount is cut in half.

In addition to what some of the other members have mentioned, consider expanding the areas in which you're looking for (eg Inland Empire), the types of properties you're consider (eg single family homes while renting out other rooms) and/or adding opportunity to existing properties (eg adding a BD, building an ADU).

Good luck to all of us! 

To echo what many others have mentioned, the report is a bit on the longer side but the information seems impactful.

What may help would be to have a summary slide on some of the key takeaways (simple bullet points would suffice). Keep up the good work!