All Forum Posts by: Jason Malabute

Hi @Jason Malabute! The property management company I work for manages ~100 properties in the LA area, mostly in neighborhoods bordering the 605 freeway (Whittier, Downey, Commerce, South Gate, Bell Gardens, Pico Rivera, etc.) I'm happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability. If you want to PM me, you're welcome to, or just post here so everyone can learn from it. 

@Jason Malabute Hi Jason 

There are so many groups around LA

Some to look into would include 

Prosperity through Resl Estate 

For Investors by Investors 

LAREIA in San Gabriel 

Those are a few go look into let me know if you need more 

LA Southern REIA is a great place to start. You're able to just purchase a one day ticket (usually about $20) and they have a speaker as well as networking. You'll meet all kinds of investors, wholesalers, realtors, etc. You can decide if you like the group before becoming a member.

If you're interested in the Long Beach area for meetings, there's a meetup at The Grand in Long Beach by a group called FIBI (For Investors By Investors).  They meet once a month and you can buy tickets for just a day.  They discuss a topic in real estate and you get to network.  You can look them up on Facebook too, I believe they have a page with more information.  

Hope that helps!

@Jason Malabute

If you are relying on a realtor and MLS properties as your source for leads in Southern California, you probably are going to have to adjust your expectations. I'm about 40 miles north of you, so I'm going to assume your market is similar to mine. Any "lead" from your realtor is also going to be seen by every other "investor" who watches flip or flop and attended a seminar. From what we seen, any "fixer upper" on the MLS is going to have 20 offers and be bid up to a price that has super slim margins.

Instead of waiting on him to bring you the leads, I would suggest having him set you up with a search that automatically sends you all new listings.  That way, you can go through them and tell him which properties you want to view instead of waiting for him to contact you with leads.

@Jason Malabute

Why would you need to show your agent your analysis?  He/she is supposed to be representing you and should be submitting your offers.  Obviously they can offer you advice, but in my opinion, you shouldn't have to be "proving" anything to them for them to submit the offer. 

Have you talked to this agent about your strategy? If so, they should understand what type of properties you are trying to buy and know that you are buying based off of your numbers. 

1. Depends if an appraiser calls it out or not. I'm pretty dang sure that people throw furniture and wheel barrows in front of clear health and safety issues, before the appraiser shows up, on a routine basis.

2. Depends. 

3. LOL. Completely depends. Do a CMA on the property, and on the listing agent (direct MLS access required, zillow/redfin/etc will not cut it). Base your offer on that, period. Listing price holds zero value in hot West Coast markets. List price is the FIRST number you throw in the garbage.