All Forum Posts by: Joey Budka

There is a reputable property management group in the East Bay that pushes rents to market levels. The name of the company is SPM (Stephens Property Management). 

Are your rentals apartments or single family homes? I know a few other managers that could assist you, depending on the size of the properties and location.

Hey Anja, I have some great CPA recommendations for you here in the Bay Area. Send me a PM/colleague request and I'll respond with their contact info. Best, Joey

@Yuliany W. and @Andrew Tabalujan

I look forward to seeing both of you at the meetup and at the workshop. Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to bring anyone else along with you. Cheers!

@Jim Hoang

I was in the same boat a few years back. I was faced with the same predicament after graduation: bust my *** hustling as a commercial broker, or get a steady 9-5 job working in real estate development. 

You hit it on the head with pros and cons from both angles. Basically, it takes forever to establish a consistent clientele in commercial real estate. Competition is fierce, and most owners have relationships with older seasoned brokers. However, there is definitely business to go around, and you'll hit the lucky jackpot from time to time where someone needs to sell ASAP. Otherwise, its a long grind out of the gate from college, cold calling, marketing, networking and meetings- over and over and over again. The long term potential is amazing though. Because you're in the brokerage business, you learn from big hitters who have been investing for years. Also, you run across off-market deals that will either be a great deal for you, or for one of your active buyer clients. Long term, it makes sense to get into commercial brokerage. 

Going to steady route has its perks too. I have a friend working as the acquisitions director for a boutique developer. He makes consistent good money, but he's locked into his 9-5, or should I say 8-6? He works closely with some of the biggest apartment groups in the Nation, so he's getting connections. Some of the partners said they'll do a small development deal with him if he can find one or invest partially. The catch is, he doesn't have time to find deals or invest what little money he's able to save. 

So, its give or take with sacrifices.

My suggestion would be to defer payments for your student loans as long as possible. Then, try to line up a monthly stipend with a big broker who needs an extra hand, and who also wants to train you to assist with his/her high volume. If you can't get a stipend, work an extra job as a waiter or doing Lyft or Uber at nights and on the weekends. I did this and it really sucked, but its paying off now ;) 

Conclusion: Go commercial brokerage. If you bust your a**, you'll be a principal in 5-10 years and never have to work again. 

Give me a call. I work in the South Bay. I'd be happy to sit down for coffee or lunch some time. 

@Jessica S.

I work with a brilliant agent who has lots of experience dealing with Bay Area rental property insurance. I'll PM you her contact info. 

My advice? I would buy 50 grand worth of lottery tickets and go to Vegas! Just kidding... Here's my two cents... First of all, ask yourself a few questions: What is your investment goal? Are you looking for true passive income or to be active with your investments? In state or out of state? Desired returns? Cap rates? Leveraged returns vs. cash returns? If you're a 100% newbie, take lots of time to better educate yourself. Take on a mentor who will show you the ropes. Read BP everyday for 6 months. Study your local market. Connect with other investors and investor oriented RE agents. Play the cash low board game a dozen times. Then, make a plan and take the plunge! Don't let analysis paralysis get the best of you. Good luck!

With regard to a real estate investor community in the Bay Area, @J Martin is the man to connect with. Definitely recommend joining his monthly meetup group in Oakland. Also, @Johnson H. will be hosting a meetup next Friday in San Jose. The next day, on the 19th, I'll be hosting a commercial real estate investing workshop in San Jose as well. PM me for more details on this. 

In any case, you've definitely come to the right spot! Welcome to the BP world.

Echoing the words of Joel, it doesn't matter if you have a loss in terms of purchase relative to sales price. The most important question to ask yourself is: How can I best reposition the debt and equity to work optimally for the highest return? Sometimes the best decision is cutting your losses on an underperforming asset and reinvesting in a performing one.

@Ken Lau

We host them once a month, usually. We focus on two different asset classes: single tenant net leased investments and multifamily properties. We basically review how to analyze, finance, acquire, and structure commercial properties and exchanges. 

We'll be hosting another one in August. I'll keep you posted with details, but it'll probably be in Santa Clara, late August, and we'll be focusing on multifamily. 

@Minh L.