All Forum Posts by: Jon Schwartz

This is hopefully not as complicated as it might sound, but was wondering if any of the great minds on this forum have thoughts on best strategy for current situation.

My husband's parents are fortunate enough to own two properties:

House #1: A bungalow a few blocks from the beach in Venice Beach, CA - purchased for basically nothing in the 80s, own outright, probably worth about $1.2 million (guessing).

House #2: A 3bed 2 bath amazing view house with guest house in Topanga, CA - purchased for basically nothing in the 80s, has a 350k mortgage on it, probably worth about $2 million.

(both have extremely low tax basis)

My husband parents are also incredible generous, and were looking into way to help us and his sister purchase properties, without having to wait for the trust to be divided upon their death (knock on wood, not for a long while!).

The first idea was to 1031 the Venice house, giving each child enough to pay ~$500k or so down on a house.

Pros: higher payout

Cons: they have an existing tenant whom they are collecting $4k/mo from that they would lose, each sibling is looking for completely different things, so the timeline of the 1031 is scary in this real estate market, the house would be out of the trust.

The second idea was to take a loan on one (or both?) properties, giving each child just enough for a down payment, essentially (a few hundred grand).

Pros: both houses left in trust, quicker (?), simpler (?)

Cons: less $$, the loans on the properties would increase, would have to pay the loan (likely with the rental income from property #1)

Is there a better option that we just don't know about? I have been on this forum for a minute, but in practice, I don't know what the best way to go about this is. I thought this would be a great place to get any creative ideas that may be out there that we are unaware of. Is there a different way to use the equity in each home without overcomplicating? 

@Jon Schwartz Thank you Jon!

I have 1bd/1bath condo in Los Angeles that I purchased before I discovered BP. This was my former primary residence and the numbers don’t pencil out that favorably to make it a rental. So I plan to take my equity elsewhere. My question is what color should I paint the interior before selling it.

1. I’m planning on keeping the ceilings white and the baseboards white.

2. There are custom interior doors that are dark green and I plan to keep those as is or should I paint them?

3. Should I just paint the entire interior white to keep things simple and cheap or will a two tone be better? If so which colors?

4. Any recommendations for a painter in Los Angeles?

Thank you!!

@JonSchwarts Thanks so much for your reply and I am appreciative of your willingness to help. The office is in Glendale and I live in Avocado Heights, near La Puente and Hacienda Heights. Pre pandemic, my commute was anywhere from 50 min to 1:10 hrs. It's not ideal but the average commute in LA. I have been looking for places in Azusa (looks like they have a lot of new construction), West Covina, Covina, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, Montebello, and Whittier. I have looked in the cities west of the 605 but the closer they get to DT, the more expensive everything gets. I have also considered looking in Dimond Bar, Glendora, and Walnut. These are farther from work but they are nicer cities. 

I am having a hard time determining what cities will be the best investment because I have seen the prices in cities like El Monte go up dramatically and they are not the safest or nicest. 

No broker will even want to chat with you until you pass the test.

Hello BP,

My name is Pushkar and I am currently living in Los Angeles. I am a recent MBA graduate and my day job is in technology product management. While I was a student, I became really interested in real estate based off of a couple of real estate finance courses I took. I am looking to learn about real estate strategies in the multifamily and short-term rental space.

Separately, I have also started working on an internet-of-things (IoT) project that helps enforce hand hygiene in public restrooms and would love to get some feedback from the community here. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could please share the right sub-forum where I can post about it.

Looking forward to participating in some wonderful real estate discussions soon!

Hi there, I am planning on buying my first home. I live in SoCal and although the interest rates are very low the market here is very competitive. Everything is selling quickly and for a higher price than listed. I would love to get into real estate investing but I am not too sure how to approach it considering the high cost of loving here. 

The areas I am looking for to buy will put me at a 1 hr. commute from work (the closer to LA, the more expensive everything gets).  I am thinking of buying a condo, I can't afford a home without the need of major renovations or having a 1:30+ hrs commute when I go back to work on-site. I know condos are harder to sell and they don't typically give you the best return for your money but it seems like the best option at the moment. 

I plan on buying a condo, living there for a few years, sell or rent, and then buy a home and hopefully an investment property. How should I determine what are the best cities to buy this first property in? I am considering areas in decent cities but there are also nicer/cheaper areas getting farther away that would add 30 min to my commute. How can I determine if enduring a longer commute it's worth it? A lot of the areas closer to LA have been gentrified and the prices have gone up a lot but the cities are still not the nicest. Not sure how to determine if the closer cities I am considering will follow the same pattern. 

I have a good credit score (750+) and I have ~$30K for downpayment and closing costs. What steps and considerations would you all recommend? Is this a good approach or would you suggest I consider something else?

Thanks!

Hey everyone!

So I am looking to move to Calgary, Alberta within next two-three years. I am definitely looking to purchase my first home and house hack it. Real estate is very expensive in Calgary. I am looking for general advice for house hacking in HCOL areas. Any advice that would be helpful?