All Forum Posts by: Noi K.

@Account Closed , I got quoted $1050 by the bank for a Triplex in Venice, and I thought that was on a high side. Was thinking around $750 from past experience.

@Account Closed thanks for your input. I read about their issues in UK but wasn't aware in US. with 5% commission, there's essentially no savings from using Purplebricks. But they do promise to include professional photos, 3D virtual tour, advertising on Zillow/Trulia etc. Do conventional brokers include these services these days?

@Ian Ippolito , will do. Thanks.

@Account Closed , did you end up using them?

My wife met and liked an agent from Purplebricks to list our condo. I looked into listing with them in AZ - the flat fee is $4950... 

So let's say if the house is $200k, Purplebrick's fee ($4950) plus Buyer's agent (2.5% = $5000) is almost $10000. Difference is only $2k compared to conventional agents (6%). It may not make sense to use on a house that is less than $200k.

Anyhow, let me know if you have any more insights.

Great conversation... I am looking into this right now as well. Thank you @Kurt Granroth for starting the thread.

@Ian Ippolito , I am curious - where/how do you find those feeder funds?

@Devon Craychee @Amy Bauer , have you found any good local CFP? I am looking for one also.

BTW, I have a great EA whom I've been working with for years, if you still need a local tax person. He is also into REI himself.

@Alan M. Nice!

@Alan M. first, sorry for your loss. And thank you for opening this thread. I am in a similar boat - too much equity and not enough cashflow - so the conversation in this thread is very educational. Big difference is that I am aiming to convert the equity into cashflow more aggressively, but still managing passively.

I am in small MF and SFR currently, but looking seriously into bigger MF, NNN and syndications. I want to cashout refi as much as I can, but since the cashflow is low, lending is a bit problematic to me. This may not be the case for you but it would be a good idea to talk to a couple of lenders to find out how much money you can cashout first, if you haven't already. I would be hesitant to use HELOC to fund longer term investments. I also want to get out of SFH in next several years as they are not "passive" even with property managers.

It doesn't seem that increasing the cashflow is not a priority for you.  Have you thought about maybe putting a portion of your funds into bonds and/or dividend stocks?

@Rob Moran It's not on the MLS yet, but I am talking with a potential buyer. Do you rehab and rent?

@Boris Muchnik 

I was living in a rental condo in Santa Monica when Northridge quake hit. The condo building was damaged badly (or so I thought). The owner offered to sell it at really low price - I didn't even consider seriously (I was young and didn't have money either) but if I remember correctly, it was under $200k, and I thought it was too expensive.

Fast forward 25 years, I recently checked Zillow and found that the building is still alive and well, and the condos are estimated at $1.5m to over $2M...! Ugghhhh, I wish I was smart enough to buy it then...

Luckily I got smarter :) and bought several properties since then. SoCal is really a special market. I'm not sure if there's any takeaway for you here, but if and when you are ready to take a plunge, I think you should, despite potential earthquakes and prices being so high. You never know what happens in the future.