All Forum Posts by: J. Martin

@Zachary A.,

I'm driving up to Rocklin tomorrow to speak at @David Oldenburg's meetup on this exact topic tomorrow night! Come out and join us!

I have 15 furnished rentals here in the SF Bay Area and have some tips. Like @Jake Knight said, you could most likely spend less on furniture (I spend ~3-5K on small apartments.) Although I would bump up your TV spending a lot.

You put $125 for a premium TV. You should put a minimum 55" TV in the living room, and should be a SMART TV so you can include Netflix or they can watch their own stuff. They cost around $400-600, including a nice mount. I also found that TV-loving Americans prefer a TV in their bedroom also. They like lounging around or watching before bed. Also make them feel more like they have their own self-contained private space in their room. I almost always put small TV' in the bedroom also (32"). You can save some money off the $40k furnishing bill and spend a little more on the TV's. (I personally do not have a TV in my residence, but own about 30 TV's lol)

I also recommend putting an electronic code entry pad on each bedroom, so they feel like they have a private, locked space - but cannot lock themselves out of the room. Also hotel latch for extra feel of security, even if not necessary (that's a tip from Al ;)

@Elizabeth Colegrove is more familiar with the military market. And @Al Williamson knows about government per diems. (Al also has a course to help get you launched).

I personally wouldn't buy a property based on the furnished rental income unless I was already operating the property or really knew what the performance was going to be. As Jake said, making sure there is an exit is one way to mitigate that risk.

Best of luck on the project Zachary, and hope to meet you tomorrow night! :)

 Hi David,

Thanks for the shout-out, and glad you made it out! *(I believe I met you if I remember correctly.) Although couldn't tell from your profile pic.. It's a bit tough out there in SF, but it looks like prices are leveling off in many neighborhoods, so might be some more days on market, and some deals to pick through here and there.

Interesting you worked on the derivatives cases. I used to work in bank regulation during the crisis, so we used to see all sort of interesting shenanigans, forensic accounting investigations, etc. Hope to chat with you more some time outside the meetup when there is a little more time..

Welcome to BP David! :)

 Andrew, I've heard a lot of great things about David's meetups, so driving up from San Francisco to share about a low-capital way to get into the market. Just networking with real estate investors from all walks of life in these venues will open your mind to everything available, just like the great folks on BP. Come out and say hi! :)

@Alex Chau,

For me, I mostly find my rentals through networking. Surprise surprise there are a bunch of landlords that don't want to deal with tenants and just get paid w/o hassle. I bet some of them are even at @David Oldenburg's meetup! Just go talk to them and ask!

@Dale Rector,

I was looking at Hawaii as a potential expansion market. But I was a bit put off by the number of 2nd homes/vacation rentals/furnished apartments that are available for rent for a good portion of the year. I prefer places with less supply/competition. What do you think about that point?

@Pat McGrath,

See my response to @Account Closed above, but a lot of it comes from various online platforms, including Airbnb. But there are many other resources. I'll have a full slide of marketing resources at the meetup. :)  Travel nurses are a great part of the market. It's very difficult to find unfurnished apartments that will lease for just 13 weeks (typical travel nurse contract), and troublesome to get furniture from CL (time, searching, interaction, truck?, set up, kitchenware, cookware, etc.. adds up $$$) So that's part of the dynamic.

@JD Martin, just come visit the Bay as part of your business trip ;)

@Tim Kunz, yes! Will be good to see you again too! Glad you can make it out. @Al Williamson is doing a great job up in Sacramento with furnished rentals. I recommend his online course. I bought it myself. I've just been expanding beyond what I own, because I can't afford to buy all the property down here in the Bay! lol Can't even convince the owners to get an option to buy! ugh! lol

Looking forward to seeing you all on Nov 1st at the Country Club! :)

 We're meeting up at 6:30PM tonight in SF FiDi. Come out and say hi  @Cameron ! Thanks for the shout out Alnie. Hope you are doing awesome :)

@Melyssa Green,

The South is cool :) I hung out in South Carolina for a bit on my cross-country roadtrip, along with Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Jacksonville, and a bunch in between.. Good for you! I don't have a true second home yet (or first for that matter! lol). 

Regarding your commercial property, there is tons of financing for commercial property right now. Banks and credit unions are trying to push money out the door to get some yield. I would search on Google for the few closest banks nearest to the property, and get it done! They'll probably drive by while they're on the phone with you lol. Plenty of national lenders also. And brokers..

Congrats on looking towards quitting your job. So many opportunities in real estate popped up when I quit my 9-5 earlier this year. I encourage you to do the same! Btw, do you ever stop in to Bay Area Wealth Builders? I do every once in a while. But mostly doing my meetups in SF. Drop in and say hi if you're around SF on Thurs!

Good luck with your cash-out, purchase, lending, and everything else :)

@Joel Owens.

Thanks for the shout out :)

@Lynn Leigh,

Congrats on buying your place, and on the new adventure.. You are right. The housing market is crazy here. Good of you to give some back as part of the process.. ;) A bunch of us are meeting on Thursday in the Financial District in SF (50 or so?) to chat, network, and what do you know... talk about 1031 exchanges!!! Check my profile for the link. 

@Bill Exeter is the guy to talk to for 1031 exchanges. He was just out at the Summit, along with Joel, and has answers to all the questions. I haven't heard anyone else so knowledgeable on 1031 exchanges. And can do it in or out of state..

Hope to meet you soon in person soon Lynn! 
And welcome to getting more active on BP :)

First, congrats on your project Charles Ma :) Furnished rentals are definitely an option, but you'd have to do >30 days to get out of all the SF laws. So something to think about. Fortunately, HomeSuite focuses on 30+ days (thanks for the Summit shoutout @Ariel). 

You talked about setting up nest eggs for the future.. How about 2 luxury condos in an awesome area of a timeless city? Do you need/want the cash flow? Today or later? What do you think about the future of the SF market now vs the future? @Amit M. what do you think? Market does seem to be about as good as it gets, so maybe it depends how much of a "market timer" you are also.. 

Hi Sophia, I just had my VA add your question to the first on the list for the end of the presentation. I actually just did some US-wide research (including Hawaii ;) to identify the best cities in the US for this type of business. Some of the places are fun to visit too!! :) And not to mention, you don't need to BUY in those cities. You can just rent and test it out! (better off, negotiate a rent/purchase option, or "rent to own.")

Within each city, there are ways to target specific clusters and neighborhoods for vacation rental owners, business travelers, and another special groups of longer-term short term stays, depending on what segment of the market you are focusing on. All you need is google, a map, some decent research skills, and some time. Just follow the money!! 

I'm sure others will have a similar question, so I will be sure to answer this at the meetup :) Thanks for posting up your question? Looking forward to meeting you in a week and a half! Grab me and say hi..

Jessica, happy to come up and share. Not as bad a trip with the top down!  hehe Luv Lif! ;) - J

@Chris Kirk,
"@David Oldenburg your events are always awesome and this one especially with @J. Martin is going to be awesome. Really looking forward to it and meeting more of the BP community in person :)." 

Thanks Chris! I'm looking forward to it. BP is an awesome community, and I've heard about David's meetups, so if you don't mind me drinking, a bit of cursing, and a couple travel stories, on top of the furnished rental discussion and awesome networking, it should be a smash!!!  ;)

Hanoi, Vietnam. Sept 2016

@Koosha T,

"@J. Martin Will be great to finally meet you. Thanks for taking a detour over to here."

How long have you been waiting!?! lol I'm looking forward to coming up. Be sure to grab me and say hi. 

Do any of you have some burning furnished rental questions you want me to answer first when we get to the meetup..? 

David,

Already started on the presentation. I'll add more based on your feedback! I'll also do a survey of what people want to hear about when we arrive, focusing on that content, and skimming over the rest. Should be a fun one!! :)