All Forum Posts by: J. Martin
J. Martin has started 178 posts and replied 3656 times.
Post: Buy fourplex apt in Bay Area

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
You can absolutely get a loan on a fourplex if you qualify.
@Chris Mason said, a lot of the pros (and a couple hundred investors) will be meeting up in Oakland next weekend. Great place to get connected if you can make it..
There is also lots of info on the forums and podcasts here on BP.. Don't neglect it!
Post: Huge RE Networking Summit! SF Bay 8/27 & 8/28/16 - 20 BP Greats!

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
Have's and Wants! Put 'em here! See above..
Attendees... Continued!
@Ori Skloot, @Patrick Bawer, @Peggy Liu, @Penn Viengxay, @Perry Z., @Peter Jun, @Peter Mateja, @Peter Mckernan, @Rachel Bier, @Rahul Bhatt, @Rajesh Patel, @Raman Bindlish, @Raymond Yeung, @Richard Townsend, @Rizalene Acosta, @Ruben Guerrero, @Ryan Arth, @Ryan Landis, @Sandeep Arora, @Sandeep S., @Scott Bohrer, @Scott Malkin, @Scott Sewell, @Account Closed, @Daniel Graff, @Bill Tan, @Barry Jekowsky, @Lenska Bracknell, @Bobby Sharma,
Post: Huge RE Networking Summit! SF Bay 8/27 & 8/28/16 - 20 BP Greats!

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
ATTENDEES, LET'S SEE YOUR HAVE'S AND WANTS BELOW!
And what speakers are you most looking forward to?
@Aaron Henretty, @Adrian Sherman, @Alan Yuen, @Alex Kholodenko, @Alice K., @Amar Sandhu, @Andrew Cabello, @Andy Kaufman, @Angelo Wong, @Account Closed, @Annelyse Finley, @Ashok Bhojwani, @Avineet Garg, @Bernie Baker, @Bill Ganci, @Brian Larson, @Charles Ma, @Charlie Brown, @Chris Chia, @Chris Mason, @Daniel Cota, @Danny Duran, @David Faulkner, @David Poulsen, @Deepika Tandon, @Dina Eisenberg, @Enrique Saucedo, @Eric Z., Wong, @Eva Poon, @Faiz Sadeq, @Gabriel Baltierra, @Harper Sharma, @Henry Fuerte, @Janae Lacey, @Janet Voss, @Jason Hsiao, @Account Closed, @Jennifer Anderson, @Jeremy Geng, @Jessica Yau, @Jimmy Ho, @Jody Ryden, @Johnny Wow, @Jonathan Wu, @Juan Valle, @Justin Louie, @Kali Braunschweig, @Karen L., @Kathy Kalaba, @Katie P., @Kenneth Hynes, @Kimberly Stofan, @Lane Kawaoka, @Lindsey Haines, @Mai Vo, @Mano Chidambaram, @Mary Ann Casey, @Merced Fityan, @Michael Merritt, @Michael Ryan, @Mick Harvey, @Morgan Moore, @Myo Thien, @Nghi Le, @Nicholas Lohr, @Nischal Belthangady....
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J Martin
Have's:
1) Lots of Connections in the SF Bay Area in wholesaling, flipping, multifamily, etc.
2) Knowledge about furnished rentals, corporate rentals, Airbnb, etc
3) Knowledge about rent control in Oakland & San Francisco
4) Connections & knowledge about lending
5) and this !
6) Economic Research & Speculation
Wants:
1) Pay you market rent for your apartment in the SF Bay Area, and put awesome high-quality corporate renters in.
2) Land in Santa Cruz County
3) Interesting investing opportunities everywhere
4) Travel the world!
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Post: Huge RE Networking Summit! SF Bay 8/27 & 8/28/16 - 20 BP Greats!

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
Originally posted by @J. Martin:
Hey Attendees! I'm about to add you to an email subscriber list for lots of info about the Summit, so please accept and take a look :)
Who are you all excited to see from BP? Tag a few speakers and a few friends who aren't coming yet, take a look at the profiles of the other attendees I tagged below, and check out the site for the updated list of awesome speakers (and moderators - @Arlen Chou, @Jeff Pollack, @Shane Pearlman, @Christopher Porto + more to come )! We'll see you in the theater at the Scottish Rite!
CONFIRMED ATTENDEES
@Troy Fisher, @Igor Zaytsev ,@Neil Evangelista, @Ganesh S., @Stan K., @Tim Kunz, @Debby Chen, @Bing Lee, @Tuan Le, @Brandon Foken, @Raimondo F., @Ofer Dallal, @Doug Chinn, @Ben Dunning, @Matt Mason, @Omi C., @Nawien Sharma, @Tony Rishell, @Account Closed, @Matthew Ryan, @Anna Myers, @Jose Belman, @Mick Harvey, @Lane Kawaoka, @Scott Sewell, @Stephanie Gupte, @Eric Yang, @Mark Gagner, @Scott Bohrer, @Annelyse Finley, @Sim Peyron, @William Yu, @David Poulsen, @Tim Garcia, @Alan Yuen, @Lindsey Haines, @Andy Kaufman, @Nischal Belthangady, @Dina Eisenberg, @Bernie Baker, @Janet Voss, @Scott Malkin, @Kenneth Hynes, @Eva Poon, @Ryan Landis, @Mai Vo, @Perry Zheng, @Raymond Yeung, @Peter Mateja, @Kim Stofan !!
HOTEL - Did you folks from San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, get your hotel rooms yet? Check out the bottom of the site for the link to the group rate of under $140/nt. I also added a few nights for Thursday, in addition to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, for those who want to enjoy a little more time in the Bay.
RSVP ON BP - Click on "Attend Event" at the top of this page in the event box, so all the other attendees and speakers can find you easily before and after the event! (see the pic below)
Attendees, please post your "Have's and Wants" below so we can all get acquainted before we arrive at the Summit!
**************************************************************
J Martin
Have's:
1) Lots of Connections in the SF Bay Area in wholesaling, flipping, multifamily, etc.
2) Knowledge about furnished rentals, corporate rentals, Airbnb, etc
3) Knowledge about rent control in Oakland & San Francisco
4) Connections & knowledge about lending
5) and this !
6) Economic Research & Speculation
Wants:
1) Pay you market rent for your apartment in the SF Bay Area, and put awesome high-quality corporate renters in.
2) Land in Santa Cruz County
3) Interesting investing opportunities everywhere
4) Travel the world!
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And join the facebook page below!
Post: Starting my REI adventure with a duplex in San Francisco Bay Area

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
@Account Closed,
You can also find 4plexes at about the 1% rule in Richmond, after you raise rents.. I have a couple properties out there.. But they tend to decline in value during downturns. If you're holding for long term and getting cash flow, maybe not a big deal..
Post: New Member from the Bay Area

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
Originally posted by @Rahul Bhatt:
I need some expert advice
Let me start by saying that I haven't seen downturn my self I arrived in this country in 2010. So I have only seen green grass here 😀
I get puzzled when I hear about greater bay areas prices (like Modesto) are going to drop quickly. Why because people sell more when the market goes down because they can not afford it and they don't have enough equity.now in the context of income generating cash flow properties(thats why people like Modesto). Why one will sell it in the worst market if they are almost paying for themself? I know scenarios like rent drop and vacancy. But I bet those will happen in bay area as well.i f there is a downturn than it is going to affect bay area as well. Or we are saying that employment and income are more steady in bay area ? Sorry if these questions are very basic and stupid.
Am I missing something?
Originally posted by @J. Martin:
Congrats on getting started in your RE investing career so early in life! I didn't really start learning about RE until I got my first job out of college, and finally quit that sh*t at 31yo this year! I'm sure you'll be out of the W2 even earlier.. (or maybe not even have to start it hehe ;)
Good you're reading up.
BIGGEST TIP
If I could have done one thing earlier in my investing career, it would have been to start networking here on Bigger Pockets AND in person at local meetups earlier. Sooo.. I recommend to check out @Johnson H.'s meetup in Milpitas, @Jeff Pollack's meetup in San Jose, and come to SF to visit sometime also at my meetup! A bunch of us are also meeting up in Oakland with a bunch of investors from the Podcasts next weekend if you can make it..
I don't wholesale, and as @Chris V. said, there are lot more people who like the idea of wholesaling, than are actually successful at it.
I started a little further out in the Bay Area, but not as far as Stockton or Modesto. I bought in Richmond, then in Oakland.. The tertiary areas like Stockton tend to be the most volatile in price, and similar to Richmond, tend to have price drops and foreclosures in every economic downturn. I bought a foreclosed 4plex in Richmond that had also been foreclosed on in 2 of the last 3 cycles. And if I sell it to someone in the next year if the market stays hot, it may just end up there again! So I'd be cautious about buying in tertiary areas late in the economic cycle.. Just my 2 cents.. @Account Closed's posts..
Rahul,
The inland areas tend to be more volatile in price for several reasons.
1) They are "spillover" areas. When prices get high in the core SF Bay, more and more people look further out for a home. They go from SF to Oakland, Berkeley, and Walnut Creek. From there out to Richmond, Pittsburg, Brentwood. Then eventually out to the Stockton area when the rest gets too expensive.
2) Higher and more volatile unemployment than core Bay Area. Unemployment is both higher, and much more volatile during downturns in the Stockton area.
3) Lending + more foreclosures during downturns. Prices tend to go up significantly at the end of a cycle in these areas, while lending is good and people can qualify for loans, with their new highest-ever paying job - then there is a recession. And there are foreclosures. I bought a foreclosed 4plex in Richmond during the crisis that had been foreclosed on 2 of the last 3 downturns.
Remember, it's not all investors out there.. So it's not all about cash flow when it comes to single family home prices. And there are many single family homes in Stockton today that would not cash flow.. Houses are not $50-100K/apiece out there any more, and rent increases have not kept up with the dramatic increase in prices..
At least, that's my 2 cents.. (graph included!)
Post: Interested in moving from San Francisco to Oakland

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
Originally posted by @Carolina Solorzano:
I recently sold a SFH in Berkeley and the buyers were originally advised to go through Chase. They had excellent credit, first time buyers with amazing jobs, but they were taking 30+ days to close on a mortgage loan. Because of that, their real estate agent asked mine where to go- we pointed them to Wells Fargo. Here in the Bay Area, especially in SF, I know a great guy whose contact info I would more than gladly pass on to you.
Considering your situation, I agree with everyone else here- you should broaden your horizon and see comps in pricing for Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito. These areas of the Bay don't take too long to commute through BART and some of them have great public schools (if you decide to rent out the house later on to a family).
And the late-cycle spillover continues! ;) This is why I bought in secondary areas in the downturn.. ;)
Post: Looking to connect with other investors in the area

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
Welcome! There are lots of Bay Area investors on here, some of which are investing out of state.. You should check out @Beau Eckstein's meetup not far from you, and come out to Oakland or SF some time.. @Johnson H. also has a meetup in Milpitas and @Jeff Pollack in San Jose each month. Great people and a fun time :) A couple hundred of us will also be meeting next weekend in Oakland if you can make it!
Post: Hello from Oakland!

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
I think it partially depends on how much time and energy you want to spend on it yourself. And how good you are at design and want it to look like. My buddies that flip houses often hire a designer because it pays. For rentals, that's rarely done..
Is this a high-end luxury office? Or basic Class B space? Do you have contractors you can use?
Sometimes it's tough to find contractors right now, especially at a reasonable cost. So if they have that contact, that's one consideration. @Tariel G can usually get things done.
Everyone is looking for quality, price, and speed. You should get at least 2 out of 3, but some are lucky to just get 1 nowadays! It's busy out there! Best of luck :)
Post: Wholesalers in the bay area?

- Rental Property Investor
- Oakland, CA
- Posts 3,834
- Votes 2,925
@Ashley McClure and @Chris May,,
I bought a duplex in West Oakland a while back from @Brandon Lee . Not sure how many he runs into up here nowadays (give me the good ones first Brandon! ;) There will be wholesalers at the Summit next weekend in Oakland (along with Brandon) if you all can make it..
@Ryan Hopkins and @Heather Hopkins,
Can you send me the info on the Hayward 8-plex? I'm interested in any off-market multifamily deals in the Bay Area.
Stuff in the SF Bay too..? Or just other parts of CA..?