All Forum Posts by: David Hutson

@Daniel Banks, 

You can shoot me a message with what you are looking for or what type of deals you are looking for.  Sacramento is hot and as Wes stated houses are going fast.  There are numerous wholesalers in town searching full-time.  I'm open to discussions to see if there is something that could be worked out.

I see your uniform.  I'm still on active duty here is Sac so I'm not always available during the day but can take days off with a few days notice.  

David

Morning @Samantha Santaniello,

I haven't used use Renshaw but I haven't heard good or bad about them.  So I'll give them a neutral rating.

I have been using Crestcore for some of my homes for about four years.  They do a good job.  Very knowledgeable. They are getting big and growing their staff and improving processes.  Also, the only PM only company on this list.

I tried Reedy and took my properties to another vendor.

CB Properties, who was added, has a good home inspection process that is a little different than the other companies from what I have seen.  I like this company also.  

One thing to consider is where you are purchasing and the quality of the home.  I have found that PM's perform better in certain parts of town or different quality/class of homes.  One company may do well with a $60k home in one part of town where another does well with a $100k home in different area.

If you have any specific questions or concerns send me a message.

Good luck,

David

@Sherwin Gonzales, They are people who are moving here.  Many of them are retiring/retired and tired of the expenses/taxes/lack of parking, etc.  I know several people who commute to the bay to save money.  A few rent rooms out there and stay for several days at a time and come home on the weekends.

I'm in Sacramento.  I'm an investor and an agent so I am seeing the movement from both sides.  Almost half of my sales are to people from San Francisco.  Some are definitely trying to get out of the bay area.  Many are selling there and paying cash to buy homes here, which leads me to the median price post above.  I disagree with the Trulia statement listing Sacramento's median price as flat "0".  All of the prices I'm seeing are higher and from other sources and meetings I go to I think the median "middle" price is higher.  We may not be the best market but we are definitely selling fast and at above asking price, usually with multiple offers if the home is listed at a reasonable price.

@Colin C leamy,

Memphis Invest is a great company and as you have heard they are very experienced.  I recommend you look at some of their homes and determine the price range you are comfortable with in Memphis.  You will need the 20% down plus $4-5k as stated above.  That will be good for the first four properties you own and then it will go up to 25% down.  It will be difficult to get $200 a door, after management, taxes, insurance, maint and vacancy, in Memphis now for a good home.

Starting with turnkey is probably the best for you since you don't appear to have the knowledge or teams in place to rehab homes from local investors/MLS. Down the road, after you learn more and can build teams then I would say you may want to try to to do a non-turnkey home. Message me if you have any questions.

@Michael Ohman,

Welcome to BP.  If you decide to invest in Memphis reach out to me and I can tell you have I've been investing there. I'm still in the Army and have 14 homes there currently.  

It would be much easier to move out there if you wanted to meet those high goals and you would be able to use your VA loan to get started. The issue is going to be your income to qualify for the loan, which will probably be the same for anywhere you want to get a loan to purchase properties.

Good Luck.

@Steve Wang, I'm flying down into Irvine tomorrow for work.  If you want to meet up or talk while I'm down there send me a message.  Same goes for anyone else in the Sacramento or L.A. area.  Always looking to meet other investors and discuss investing.

@David T.,

Many of the areas I invest in are probably what you would consider bad.  I'm looking for a decent looking street with the 3-4 houses on each side of the prospect home kept up well.  Yards cut, no parking on the grass, no garbage piled up everywhere.  I like to see pride of ownership/rentorship.  That won't guarantee the house will perform well because any neighbor can change and the next door neighbor can totally trash a house in the future.  I feel if many of the neighbors keep their homes up it will spread and much of the time, not always, the other neighbors don't want to be the people with the bad looking house.  Owners, if they see it, will not want their home to be the bad home on the block also.  I'm fine with the low-income, high rental neighborhoods since everyone needs somewhere to live as long as the houses are in good shape.  I don't focus as much on crime because criminals have cars to and drive to the good areas to steal ac condensers also.  They don't only commit crime in the bad areas.

Here is what I'm doing with a wholesale house I'm in contract for today: I start with looking at photos on Google and Trulia, then any recent listing photos.  Next I drive by or have someone there drive the area.  If all of that is good I'll sign a contract and then have someone walk the house to see what needs to be done inside.  If there is a tenant inside I can see how they live and if they are following the lease.  This house I'm buying now has a dog in one of the photos.  I read the lease and it states no pets so I know that will be one thing I will have to work out with the purchase and the PM company. 

I had the person walking the house take photos.  I received 149 good photos of the interior and exterior of the home.  That gives me info on whether I want to continue with purchase or revoke my offer.  From there I get a bid on what needs to be repaired.  For a tenanted home I'll negotiate a credit for items that are worthy to be given at closing.  Then close upon the agreed timeline and then either fix the immediate needs items or save the cosmetic issues for when the tenant leaves.

I don't treat any of the homes as personal or try to have homes as nice as I want to live in.  It's a business and people need homes to live in.  I keep my houses updated, fix broken items quickly and ensure I have great property management.  I have fired a few property management companies.  If they don't perform or don't want to ensure my homes perform I use another.  I currently work with three PM companies in Memphis and just fired one.  You need to watch them.  Some try to be the cheapest and won't do all the needed repairs.  So here is why you need to have someone watching over your PM's if you aren't sure they are taking good care of your homes.  (short tangent below)

I recently had a house that had a window air conditioner in the wall to cool the dining room.  We installed a whole house a/c system and when the a/c company completed the installation the maintenance people took the a/c unit out of the wall and patched the siding on the outside.  When the tenant moved out it was vacant for two months.  I couldn't figure out why.  I took the home to another PM I use and when they did the walk through they told me their was a framed hole in the dining room.?.? I determined that they didn't patch the hole on the inside of the wall.  The new company patched the hole and it rented within two weeks.  This is the biggest problem I have found with the PM companies.  They don't always do a quality job on the turn.  If you have a home that is vacant for a month have someone walk the home and take video or photos or videochat with you.  I have only had a few homes go vacant for more than a month and each time I have found the rehab was done poorly and that was the reason for it not renting.  Once I fix the small issues, usually under a few hundred dollars, the homes rent within two weeks.  Spend the money to get a quality turn completed.  If you half *** the turn you will end up with a half *** tenant, if anyone at all.

Sacramento meet up hunters, I see many of you saying this sounds like a good idea.  Come check out this meeting.  I have been to the past three and this group is worth coming out to.  I personally like Monday nights since it doesn't cut into family time or trying to get things done around the house.  There's not cost and about 25 people attended each night I have attended.  They have a speaker for about 45 minutes and there is plenty of networking time.  

Next meeting is 19 March at the Limelight.  Come check it out.

@David T.,

I would start with what Terrance Branley stated, add Trulia as they have a few other options and then pay someone on the ground $25 to take exterior/street photos of the homes you are serious about.  If you are working with others there then you may be able to get them to drive by and check out the area and take photos.  Most people on the ground know the zip codes pretty well but there are good and bad pockets in the zip codes there.

David