All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Brumagin

I have family in Sunbury and Lewisburg. Also wondering if you happened to make it back out there or at least continued your investigation of the market. I'm curious as well to the strength of the student housing markets around the universities there and if mulitfamilies in those areas are viable investment plays.

Ryan Dossey Hey Ryan, I think it's a great idea to go for your license. As I see it, a RE license can only afford you more opportunity as a real estate investor, it certainly can't hurt. I recently decided to do the same and am currently taking courses online thru realestateexpress.com as well. They set it up to be the equivalent of 135 hours, which the BRE determines is the standard to sit for the licensing exam. Therefore, the subject matter is designed to take about that long. It is broken up into three 45-hour courses. Each course has many topics, and each topic has it's section of reading that ends with a 10 question multiple choice quiz that you must pass in order to move on. There are a few larger tests, 50/100 questions, I don't remember specifically off the top of my head because I haven't made it to one yet, but you can pretty much go at your own pace as long as you finish in 6 months. They do make you wait 2 weeks to take the test at the end of the next course so the quickest you could finish is in 6 weeks I guess. I chose the $99 option, but there is a $199 and $299 option I believe that offer more resources and assistance. It's basically a ton of real estate reading, which is great because we all find that interesting anyway, and in the end it affords you the opportunity to go for your license! Not a bad use of $100. I hope you decide to go for it. I think the world needs more investor-minded real estate agents (or at least licensees). Either way, best of *luck to you in all your real estate endeavors! Jeff *opportunity meets preparedness

K. Marie Poe Steve B. Thank you for your responses. I really appreciate the info & advice. The property has been designated with a "1/2" address, so I'm not exactly sure what that means as far as having been re-partitioned already. The water and electric both pull from a neighbor's property, although we have our own meters here for each which we use to break down the bill every month. Do either of you know if there would be public records available regarding this transaction and it's details at the county clerk's office?

I'm currently in a very informal rental agreement on a 1/1 standalone that used to be a guest unit of an adjacent property. The entire property was foreclosed on a few years back, and somehow the two properties were sold separately (I believe there are two other vacant parcels nearby that were also apart of the split). A friend of mine bought this 1/1 from the bank, but got a deal because it wasn't set up for utilities. I'm sure this guest unit was never permitted in the first place. Currently it draws utilities (water/electric) from another neighbor.

Could the bank have sold this guest property if it wasn't permitted?

If I were to buy it, would I be required to bring it up to code in order to rent it out under a more formal contract?

And if not, what are some potential risks involved in renting a property that isn't up to code?

@Frederick Sutton I'm a Los Angeles resident and brand new to the real estate investing world and I've been wondering the same thing. I've been looking at areas on the outskirts of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, and Ventura/Oxnard because it seemed there was a greater chance there to find deals in my price range. I have begun to look nearer to Downtown Los Angeles recently as well, which seems to have some MFR possibilities, but I'm concerned about the area, type of tenants, crime, etc. I'd love to hear about any progress you've made towards finding deals in the area and any insights you've had in the process. Thanks!

Brandon Turner I really appreciate the personal welcome. Very glad to be here and to have found such an wonderfully active investing resource. Love the site, love the podcast! You guys do a great job! Thank you!

Jaren Barnes Thanks for the response, Jaren! I've been digging into the UBG and I just listened to the podcast episode as well. The BP Files section looks to be a great resource. Thanks for pointing it out. I lived in Santa Cruz for six years or so during and after my schooling, but haven't been back to the area much since. Do you know of any good potential investing markets there?

Mark Mynhier I appreciate the response, Mark! I'm glad to know there are opportunities out here like that. I think I would prefer to invest more in this area and doing as much of the rehabs myself. Any advice on seeking REI's in my area?

Patrick Martinez Thanks Patrick!

Hello Bigger Pockets Community,

I just began studying real estate investing a couple months ago. I began by reading some books from the Gary Keller series (The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, FLIP, HOLD, My First House), as well as Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich, and now I'm delighted to find this incredible online resource here at BiggerPockets.com and the awesome weekly Podcast. It gives me a confidence boost knowing that not only is the information available at my fingertips, but that this great sounding board exists as well.

Now that I'm getting a pulse on the industry, I'm beginning to set my sights on developing my criteria for investment properties and choosing a target area. I currently live in Southern California just north of Los Angeles near Malibu, and investing here may not be a reasonable choice at this juncture given what I have saved, my combined household income (with spouse), and the market values around here. I've been looking at options more in line with my means, which has taken me to mobile home listings, out of state SFR & MFR, and of course Foreclosures and REOs. We currently have between $10k - 20k to put down on a property and have started the loan approval process with our bank. It's likely that we'll need to live in our investment property, which makes the 3.5% FHA look attractive. However, there is a possibility we could move to my father's house temporarily for minimal rent too, which may give us more options.

In my searches on Trulia (there may be better resources out there, just not sure which) I've been looking in the San Fernando Valley for SFR & MFR, but really all it turns up are Foreclosures & REOs. Further out I've found some mobile home opportunities, but I'm still unclear on those type of investments. I would like to learn more about these two areas as they may offer me just the type of opportunities I'm looking for at this point starting out, but then again there seems to be more risk associated with Foreclosure investments and I don't quite know how to discern if a mobile home investment is a good opportunity.

I guess I'm just looking for a bit of direction. I have family in the Phoenix area of Arizona, and I know real estate investment opportunities look good out there too for my price range. I'd like to invest locally in deals that require a bit of work as I'm willing and able to do rehabs requiring cosmetic repairs and slightly more advanced issues (i.e. tile, drywall, minor structural, landscape, hardscape), but I'm not sure where to start. I'm not averse to beginning out of state, I just think I would feel more confident in my investment if I were able to be close by knowing that any issues that arise I'd first attempt to resolve myself before hiring someone else.

I apologize for not having been super specific in my first post, but any advice and opinions one any of these subjects would be much appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from all of you and excited to be apart of the BP Community!

All the best,

Jeff