All Forum Posts by: Mark Frattini

@Laurin Wilson

Do you currently own where you live? San Diego can be a challenging market but far from impossible! Check the just listed/just solds. Lot's of properties changing hands every day 365. Keep in mind that you don't have to knock it out of the park on your first deal and everyone has to start somewhere. Buy something for yourself if you currently rent. Leverage that into a house hack or sell after you've built up equity. You should only need ~3.5% as a down payment if you plan to live in the home. If you own currently then rent that out and find another property for you.

There's currently over 200 properties for sale in San Diego under $650k.

Sarah, your best option will be to talk with your lender. If you would like the names of a few local rock star San Diego lenders just let me know! I'm not in anyway affiliated with them I just trust their expertise. 

Do you have enough financial reserves to cover all your expenses including this new home for 6+ months. I suggest that you cancel the deal and work on finding a replacement job. Losing your job is out of your control. Call you lender and explain. Even without a loan contingency you still have an "out". No lender will force you into buying when you no longer have the financial means to make the payments. 

There will always be another opportunity to buy another property. 

Exiting from 4 unit would be easier than a SFH with 4 seperate ADUs. Plus you would miss out on some of the scalability benefit of a multi-family building.

Quote from @Mike Hsiao:

Can anyone help give some recommendations on good investor friendly General Contractors in the San Diego area?  

I may be close on acquiring a 4-plex here to turn into a rental, and will need a full rehab.

I did some searching on past posts here on BP, and got a few names, but that post was from 2020. 

The last GC I used, and really liked, unfortunately move out of state.

Any recommendations would be very much appreciated!!!  

Garcia Construction - 760.575.6252
Jason Blake - 760.690.7516
TR Construction - 858.537.6490

I have a client that I sold a condo to going through a similar situation. The HOA reserves were great until they weren't. It's been one special assessment after another and now they are considering selling so they can buy a SFH without HOAs.

Quote from @Jordan Budke:

Quote from @Mark Frattini:

My thoughts...Keep the condo for now and work on increasing your income and time at current job. Continue to save as much as you can. In the meantime reach out to your lender and discuss your situation. They should be able to provide guidance on your next steps to get ready for the next purchase. Your condo will continue to build equity. Fast forward and you can either keep the condo and move into a better primary or sell the condo and find a home that has rental potential (ADU, duplex etc). Either way you still have 1 door used for rental income.

 I don't want to lose the equity. Will the market be able to sustain such high values?

Prices will continue to fluctuate up and down in the short term. If you look back at a pricing graph for any decent amount of time RE prices continue to go up and to the right over the long term.

My thoughts...Keep the condo for now and work on increasing your income and time at current job. Continue to save as much as you can. In the meantime reach out to your lender and discuss your situation. They should be able to provide guidance on your next steps to get ready for the next purchase. Your condo will continue to build equity. Fast forward and you can either keep the condo and move into a better primary or sell the condo and find a home that has rental potential (ADU, duplex etc). Either way you still have 1 door used for rental income.

💯👏 Share some pics when you're done! 

@Igor Musiyets What market are you in?

I've been in real estate and investing for 10 years. I have helped several other Bigger Pockets members purchase multiple properties in SD.My team and I will do around 200 transactions this year and we have ~400 5 star Zillow reviews. Our office is in Carlsbad (North County SD) and we're known for providing amazing service to our customers. I am available anytime to setup a conversation and discuss further. Best of luck with the sale!