All Forum Posts by: Jay Orlauski

I will sent it to you privately in a few minutes

Welcome to Bigger Pockets David - you are in the right place to connect with others and learn all abut investing in real estate. Be sure to check out the blog section too and don't forget set up some keyword alerts so that you can be alerted anytime a discussion topic of interests come up  - like something local to your area - or perhaps if you want to learn about fix and flips - set up a keyword to alert you whenever its being discussed. 

Hope to hear all about your adventures in real estate. Best of luck to you! 

I did not get a phone call from you about this - you did not look for a buyer hard enough! call me next time- you know I got buyers on the sidelines looking for a good deal... 

I just found a property in Merced that could be a good candidate -maybe you can look at it for me and see what you think about it .. I'll PM you the details

Another thing to remember is that taxes are based on the purchase price of the home - so all things being equal - if you paid two different prices for the properties than there would would be two different tax bills at different amounts. This is why many times when you see the original tax base - you cannot count on that for your own taxes - your taxes will be based on whatever you paid for the property. Higher taxes are also triggered when permits are pulled so that could possibly account for some of the difference if work was done on one of them.  Hope that helps clear things up a little.  I would still followup on the higher tax bill to confirm that it is correct however - no reason to leave that on the table if you don't need to- as someone else said - avoid mentioning the lower tax - 

have a great day!

HI Isaic - Find some local REAL clubs where other real estate investors get together and you should find some investor savvy agents hanging out there networking. If you don't find one there , there should be several investors who would be able to recommend someone for you.  

@Michael Quarles - your enthusiasm is contagious - keep it up - I think you ARE close to your first wholesale deal - just don't give up and keep turning over rocks - you will get to your goal. 

All of my units have been south of Shaw and I have not had any significant problems as a result. I find it is more affordable there so I can get more for my money and still get quality tenants - now I do prefer to stay above Shields in most cases - though it's not so to bad once you get to Cedar and further east.

@Anmmar Alsaggaf - I like to get a $100 a door minimum and more if I can get it. 

@Anthony P. - I've bought and sold several income properties in Fresno -  I also had a couple duplexes but sold them to raise capital for an unrelated business. Right now I have a triplex - and will actually be adding a unit to it soon to make it a fourpex.  

As far as the market, it is tight right now in Fresno  - investors I'm talking to are having a harder time finding deals and are starting to look outside the area.  It's harder to find cash flowing properties under 5 units right now, but there are a few. I have also considered looking outside the area for long term income property - but still on the lookout for flip opportunities in Fresno.  

There are investors I know that are still finding deals - so I think that even though the market is tight - there are still opportunities for those who are persistent and keep looking when others give up. You have to be dialed in and ready to make a move when a deal presents itself because competition is tough right now. 

Thank you Jason - I probably should have mentioned that it is for a residential 4 -plex. However, if they are linked to same pricing structure as FEMA then they are not much of a deal. We cant really go any higher on our deductible per the terms of our loan ( they made us lower it) - so the hunt is still on for an alternative to FEMA with competitive pricing.

Is anyone aware of any reasonable alternatives to FEMA flood insurance. Our experience has been that we cannot shop for flood insurance because it all provided by FEMA and has the same premiums no matter what insurer you use.

We have been beholden to this insurance for the last 5 years and I started hearing recently about private flood insurance being offered. I looked up one company and found that they did indeed have an alternate to FEMA but it was DOUBLE what we are paying right now.

So, I am wondering if any of you savy buy and hold investors know of another insurer that offers private flood insurance at a better price than FEMA does. Thanks in advance.

what kind of multifamily are you looking at? is this a duplex , a fourplex ... or what? $246 on a duplex is not that great - but doable  - $246 on a fourplex is even worse - 

but think of it like this:  $246*12 = $2952 / year in a perfect world. 

So this means 0 evictions or late rents and no repairs. 

Now think about how much a new A/C cost - $2500 - 5000 - so at that rate - all it takes is having to replace major appliance to wipe out your whole year of returns. 

It's just something to think about - it may have been rehabbed recently or they may have replaced the roof and A/C units already and will have no deferred maintenance for years for all I know. It's just something to be aware of - 

and on that same note - did your projections and calculations take into account a capital expenditures budget? This is a budget to account large expenses like an AC unit or a roof or a water heater - any large out of the ordinary expense that could catch you off guard - better to prepare for that before it happens.  I typically set aside $2000 a year for maintenance so I will add $166 a month as an expense - if it larger than a fourplex then I scale it up a bit. Also  - do not forget to account for vacancy - in Fresno, the typical vacancy rate is around 5% right now. 

Good luck - keep us up to date on how it works out for you. Let me know if I can help you run some comps or anything - I'm an investor in the Fresno area and I have coached a lot of new investors on how to get a foothold in the business. I would be more than happy to help you out any way I can