All Forum Posts by: Nick G.

@Trevor Baker In my opinion, it's an unnecessary expense in the price point and area that your particular property is in, so save your cash. Either keep your budget under $1000, or grab some spare things from around your own home to throw in a few places. Buyers often prefer a clean slate anyway in order to better visualize their own belongings. Occasionally it can be useful to help people understand a weird layout of a house, and where to put their things, but I doubt that's a situation you have.

@Tom Doherty Not sure about that one, I don't think so though.

@Kay Kay Singh

If you want to save money, it will come at the cost of your time. Start digging deeper on BP blogs from multifamily investors, listen to the podcasts, listen to an audiobook or two, take people within a couple hours of you to coffee and make connections, learn learn learn! One hour each day will go a tremendously long way, I can say that from personal experience. 

If you want to save time, it will come at the cost of your money. Gurus may be the way to go, but the good ones are limited in number. I have no suggestions, nor a positive opinion of this route to speak of. Bear in mind that this route still costs you time to learn and time to implement, identical to the first route.

Depending on your feelings to the above routes, the final major route you can take is to invest in major REITs that invest in multifamily. This may be the safest and most effective way for you to go if your time and money are that limited.

@Tom Doherty If you find a way, let me know! You'd be a miracle worker to us all.

In all seriousness though, unless it's a teeny tiny bank and you're chums with someone on the inside, it's just about impossible to do. Your best bet is to 1. Try to reach out to the owners and buy it from them ASAP before the bank forecloses, or 2. Watch it like a hawk, and try to pounce on it if/when it comes up in a trustee sale (not the same as a foreclosure sale.)

All just depends on how proactive you want to be!

@Daniel Beltran That seller sounds like a real piece of work. Lol.

When an HOA forecloses on a property, they may satisfy their lien, which is all well and good. However, it means nothing to any other creditors that have also placed more senior-position liens on the home that have not been satisfied.

For example, let's say I have a home in an HOA that was financed by Big Bank Inc. Down the line, I stopped paying my HOA dues, they filed a lien, and the HOA foreclosed upon it (by the way, side note: in my experience this is usually a pretty unwise thing for an HOA to do, and is usually driven by an ulterior motive of someone(s) within the HOA.)

Since the HOA's lien was recorded after Big Bank Inc's lien, Big Bank Inc.'s lien trumps the priority of the HOA's, so they still have their rights to a full payoff. For that reason, it has a higher likelihood of not being appealing to a buyer depending upon the payoff amount and the probable clouding of title.

Certain exceptions exist, but not too many that I know of. You'll definitely want to consult a foreclosure attorney.

At an absolute minimum, it sounds like the title on this property is fairly clouded. I'd be pulling tax record data on this property to see what's going on with it. A local agent should be able to help you do that.

@Daniel Brooks Wherever you can get the highest amount of market exposure is where you will sell the fastest and for the most amount of money. In just about every market I've ever heard of, the overwhelming majority of buyers are looking online and through agents. Agents and internet sites both get the overwhelming majority of their data from local MLS's. Therefore, your best bet would be to have the property listed on your local MLS, as it results in the highest amount of exposure to your property.

Anytime you reduce exposure to the market, it comes at the cost of time on the market and/or selling price. Anytime someone tells you otherwise, it's generally because it benefits them to do so.

@Anssi Viljanen No problem. Looks like you've got several BPers offering their services, but if for whatever reason they don't work out, PM me and I'll connect you with my people.

Hi @Anssi Viljanen. I do not work in LA proper, but if you venture past the 405 into the San Fernando Valley, I can help you there. If you don't find someone for LA soon, I can refer you to a couple agents you could interview.

Hey @Trevor Baker, I think you might be the same Trevor I've met at the Mimi's meet up (I'm the guy who's a CAR director.) Congrats on finishing the that first rehab!

If you wanted to try to sell it yourself, this is the market to do it in, and honestly, it's not that hard to sell a property in general, especially a turnkey one. That you could probably do no problem.

The difficult/risky part about the real estate process is the escrow, especially in the ridiculously litigious Southern California environment we have here. The financial and contractual risk involved with being in an escrow is why most people go through agents, and are better off doing so. The reason that good agents have earned 5-6% on home sales for about a century is very similar to why attorneys are so expensive - to put it very generally, for a 5-digit price, they're protecting you from 6+ digits of loss/risk. 99% of people would probably do best to never represent themselves in a court case, and it's not too different in SoCal real estate (other states may be much more friendly to FSBO's.)

Anyhow, you shouldn't have any problem selling it yourself, that's the easy part. Getting yourself through escrow without being taken advantage of or sued will be your biggest challenge, and FSBO's attract sharks like blood in the water out here, so you'll want to be careful.

Feel free to reach out if you want more specific advice or tips, I know the SFV well and I've helped a handful of people who have gone the FSBO route over the years. Either way, see you at Mimi's in a couple weeks.

Nick

8O5.49O.15O2

Hi @Josh Teunissen. I actually own and live in one of these right now - although interestingly enough, mine is actually zoned as an attached SFR. If yours are condos but they're also in a PUD, you can often treat them more like an attached SFR because of the financing available on them that isn't always available on condos.

I agree with your advantages list. Other things are shared as well, such as termite repairs (our structure just had a couple thousand worth of termite damage, so being able to clear it up for $1000 was awesome.) Although the HOA may cover some or all of those things for you anyway, so check with the HOA.

Honestly, a two-unit condo building typically is not that different than a four-unit building. It's going to be a bit more desirable, since people typically like having fewer neighbors attached to them, and while you benefit from that higher value as an owner, you'll be having to deal with that higher cost as a buyer first. Definitely defer to the HOA on things you are and aren't responsible for.

For what it's worth regarding my property, these uncommon types of paired SFR units typically sell for less than a comparably-sized traditional detached SFR in my area, as much as 25% less... but the rents are barely 10% less, and they rent for more than condos (which often have about the same monthly payment when you factor in HOA,) making them prime buy and hold candidates, in my opinion. However, I realize yours may not be an SFR or in a PUD, but I thought this might be of interest to you in case your area has this style of home!