All Forum Posts by: Mel Selvidge

I'm sure there could be a whole thread on successes that others could attribute to your generous assistance as well!

Thanks for all of your contributions, and congrats!

@Kimberly T

I checked my NOLO  Every Landlord's Legal Guide, and this is what it said:

...The courts in California have construed the Unruh Act to forbid all discrimination on the basis of one's personal characteristic or trait.

Even if you live in a state that does not specifically outlaw arbitrary discrimination, there is a very strong practical reason why you should not engage in arbitrary discrimination-- for example, based on obesity, occupation, or style of dress.  Because fair housing law includes numerous protected categories -- race, sex, religion, and so on-- chances are that  a disappointed applicant can fit himself or herself into at least one of the protected categories and file a discrimination claim.  Even if the applicant does not ultimately win his or her claim, the time, aggravation, and expense caused by his attempt will be costly to the landlord.

It goes on to give an example of a lawyer who filed a fair housing complaint for being denied based on her job.  The complaint was dropped, but at expense to the landlord.  I found an example online where a stripper in Nebraska sued for gender discrimination, though that case was dropped too.  

If someone is not qualified or less qualified than another candidate based on income, credit, criminal and rental history, then it should be straightforward to reject them on that basis.  Bringing up concerns with their job risks charges of discrimination and isn't necessary.  If a landlord chooses an otherwise less qualified applicant, it seems to me that the door is wide open for a discrimination complaint, especially if the landlord cites their job as a dancer as the reason but has rented to other tipped/cash workers in the past.  (Also, not a lawyer though.)  In such a case, the landlord is also getting stuck with the less qualified tenant, so it seems like a lose/lose to me.

It's illegal to discriminate against a tenant based on source of income in California.  Check on your state's laws!

I'd just run a standard credit/criminal check and check with all of her previous landlords to make sure she pays on time, cares for the property, and is low drama.

@J. Martin, this is the place I was trying to get someone into at the previous SJ meetup!  My commission would have probably been just enough to cover dinner once I paid my transaction fees, etc. but it seemed too good to not get someone into it.  

It listed at $72K.  It hasn't closed, so I don't know what the SP was.  The same kind of unit has recently sold for $105K.

$72,000       Offer

$10,000       Repairs (maybe less)

$14,400        20% down

$24,400       Total cash in

$57,600        Financed 30 yrs 4%

$3,300          Annual mortgage payments

$3,600 Annual HOA

$1,080          Property Tax (based on a 1.5% estimate)

$400 Insurance (might be high? HOA covers building)

$1,440           Maintenance/Expenses (2% of purchase price assumption)

$650             Vacancy

$10,470         Total Expense Including Mortgage (Doesn't factor principle paid.)

$15,600        Rent ($1300/mo)

$5,130           Net (Rent-Expenses...)

21% COC Net/Total Cash In

Thanks for the shoutouts, @Arlen Chou and @David C., I hope you can join our meetup!  It's new, so the group is still small enough for a group discussion which I really enjoyed last time.  The Berkeley MeetUp is newbie-oriented.  Most of the folks who  came last time had done their research, but were just getting started buying homes and/or investments.

The challenge with buying properties (off the MLS) at a discount in the immediate area is that most houses sell over asking with multiple bids on the first day offers are read.  I'd be curious to hear from local flippers (David) how much their profit is coming from buying at a discount vs. the value that they've added.  Most places sell so quickly that a motivated seller's impatience doesn't help you here, though finding places that passed their offer date with no takers can be a way to find newly motivated sellers.  

I ran the following little analysis last week of the the median % sold price over listing price for SFRs in E. Bay zip codes stretching from Fruitvale to Albany over the last six months. I wish the MLS would say how many bids each place got! Downtown Oakland (94612) is the "least hot" by this measure followed by Chinatown-to-Fruitvale (94606), and South of UC (where only 4 SFRs came to market) is the most competitive. Gilman, Temescal, and Kensington were the next-most-competitive.

There's a little more of this on my blog, if you're interested.

As soon as you get to the edges of the Bay Area homes normally take longer to sell and seller are not expecting more than they're asking, it gets easier to find retail situations on the MLS where the homeowners have sometime going on their life that motivates them to discount their price and sell below market rather than wait.

I recently got a decent deal (15% below market) off the MLS on a nice 4bed/3bath SFR in Merced where the sellers were divorcing and needed to liquidate quickly more than they needed top dollar. It's built in 2007 in a good neighborhood near the new UC, and I've watched it appreciate in just the couple of months since I went into contract. I had renters touring/applying the day escrow closed. It's a PITA to drive to Merced, but doable, and I shouldn't need to do it much b/c it's a class A- home built in 2007.

You mentioned Vallejo which is one of my favorite spots right now. I just put an offer in for a client that was, IMO, a great cashflow deal that would return 22% COC with 20% down, and the after-repair cost was probably 20% below the ARV. Unfortunately, ours was not the top bid (offering asking, all-cash), so competition is starting to rise there too.

Of course, an investor-friendly Realtor can help you find and obtain properties that meet your needs at no cost to you, the buyer.  ;-)

In case there are issues with the hyperlinks above, here's the URL for the meetup.

http://www.meetup.com/Berkeley-Real-Estate-Meetup/events/221853999/

Hope to see lots of new and familiar faces at our next MeetUp!

Come check out our new Berkeley Real Estate MeetUp geared towards new home buyers, investors, and those seeking to learn about the home-buying process, though all levels of experience are welcome.  

The theme for our next gathering is House Hacking.

House hacking is a way of approaching home ownership like a really creative investor! Whether it's putting your spare bedroom on airbnb, building an accessory unit in the backyard, fixing-staying-then-flipping, splitting a duplex with a friend as tenants-in-common, or any other cost-reduction idea, house hackers are finding ways to make home ownership more affordable and are often creating equity through their actions. Whether you're an experienced house hacker or are just intrigued by the idea and want to learn more, you're welcome to join the discussion.

We'll begin the MeetUp with introductions followed by a brief presentation, group Q&A, then networking. The meetup is walking distance from Rockridge BART on College near Ashby. There is meeting space indoors as well as a nice outdoor courtyard for networking (so you might want a sweater).

Date:  Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Time:  6:30 p.m.

Location:  On College Ave. near Ashby Ave. in Berkeley.  Please R.S.V.P for address.

Please RSVP so I bring the right amount of snacks!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made our first meet up so enjoyable!!!  It was great to meet everyone, and I hope I get to see you again and meet more folks at our next House Hacking-themed meetup on May 13.

BP folks who attended, please send me a connection here!  I can't find some of your BP handles.  

A huge shout out of thanks to @J Martin for sharing with his SF MeetUp group.  Many of the attendees were members of that group too.

I got a letter from the County Public Works Dept. today stating that although my paving contractor applied for permits for our driveway, the pre-installation inspection didn't occur, and therefore, the permits were not issued before the driveway at my property was installed.  The letter includes a timeline of communications with my contractor stating that he contacted them to let them know the asphalt was on its way to the site and was told at that time that permits had not yet been issued.

I was told that while it was the County's right to order me to rip out the driveway, they were willing to take core samples to assess the compactness and depth of it's base, and have a engineering assessment conducted at my expense and, pending the outcome, possibly issue a retroactive permit.  It seemed to me that he was doing a meticulous job at the time, so I'm hopeful well pass with minimal disruption.

Since I got this letter today (Saturday), I haven't been able to speak with either the county or the contractor, but I'd like to understand my rights and obligations a little better before I do.

Who is liable for the added expense of these reports which (I assume) would not have been needed if an inspector had been able to look at the gravel base before the asphalt was poured?  What if I have to cancel reservations and shut down my business during peak season to dig it up and replace it?  Have any of you been through a similar situation?

Hi, @Joseph C.

I have a VR in Yosemite West, and my property manager manages properties in Oakhurst as well.  If you look at their booking calendars, the occupancy rates you see are going to be pretty accurate for rented guest use.  (I recommend them highly as managers.) 

They must make money or they wouldn't be doing it, but I haven't been able to make the numbers work for me.  Maybe if I bought in 2009?  The expenses (utilities, amenities, cleaning, maintenance, management, snow removal, permits, taxes) on a VR in the mountains is pretty brutal.  If you're competing with places in the park, especially in the off-season when there's affordable availability near the valley, going high-end with all the amenities will help with occupancy, but the cost of luxury can negate the benefits.  Basically, you have to offer a better experience than staying in the park at prices that jive with the cost of off-season motel rooms which are plentiful in Oakhurst.  

It seems to me that at the outside-the-gate vrbo supply keeps growing and growing too.  More people are doing it in the park too, but it's more supply-constrained there.