All Forum Posts by: Aaron Norris

@Rob Tossberg , I am buying a condo in Florida and have just been through this process. Yes, it all matters on non owner occupied when you're trying to get a 30-year fixed. What's strange is a qualified last week for a non owner occupied condo loan on a non-warrantable condo but the loan program changed this week! I was going to have to put 25% down but all that other stuff still mattered. I had to give Hud-1s on all my rentals that I had purchased, they wanted HOA statements, loans statements, insurance verification, and ongoing income. And, they wanted me to continue sending all that in. It was painful, a ton of work, and I still didn't get the loan. I can only imagine being self-employed will be even more painful.

Hi @Travis Bodnar , this is what we're best known for and we've been following the California market data for years. You may really like our radio show as Bruce often interviews different economists from national economists for broader trends to California economists. I think he interviewed Leslie Appleton-Young last month from CAR on this very topic. California doesn't always trend like the rest of the country. Another really good read is Big Shifts Ahead from John Burns. See also the video from I Survived Real Estate. Doug Duncan, chief economist from Fannie Mae and John Burns both appear on the video. I think there forecasts and input have been pretty spot on. 

I think the upside in Riverside is MUCH better than along the coast. We haven't had the same ride. However, go in being comfortable holding on if we have a slight softening. We may have a recession in the coming years but we believe long term in the area. 

Hi @Jason Malabute, have you contacted the city and the county to explain your situation and to see if they have any resources available? Sometimes, they have first-time buyer programs and even some affordable inventory that they know is coming through the pipeline because of special projects with developers. Here in Riverside, we have a Community Development Department and it varies by city where these contacts would live. Last night I attended Riverside City Council and our Economic Development team was asking for approval of two affordable housing projects because the developer was asking for a reduction in land cost and the first-time assistance program of $50,000 which the council approved. So Riverside's Community Development team is housed under the Economic Development department. 

Here's are a few links for you:

LA County's program: http://housing.lacounty.gov/ProgramInfo.html

Los Angeles: http://hcidla.lacity.org/help-low-income-first-hom...

LA Community Development: https://www.lacdc.org/for-homeowners/southern-california-home-financing-authority 

Representing Riverside. Don't hate. 

Another tidbit. UCR is growing a great deal. We also just landed the California Air Resource Board as well as part of the UC system's finance department. We have lots of teachers and professionals coming into town these days, not all of the 100% sold on living here. The area is very nicely located to downtown and all of UCR facilities. You may not end up with student renters if .you design and upgrade correctly. I have a friend in town that actually rents out to professionals by the room. She provides cleaning service, Internet, and utilities.  Her cash flow per house is pretty awesome but again, there are codes here so just be aware. Swing by and say hello!

Hi Sara, our office is over off of Spruce and I actually grew up by UCR! Riverside has colleges in town and the student thing has become an issue. In particular, UCR has taken lots of heat for students in housing around the university. Landlords were dividing up dining room into bedrooms and cramming as many students as possible into the house. Then the students would have parties and tick off the neighbors. The issue blew up in 2014 and the city launched some ordinances.  

This articles talks about it and also links to some good things to know, I live in an HOA close to UCR and we've had similar problems. As many as 6-8 students packed into houses and they took up all the parking. The HOA launched parking restrictions.

https://highlandernews.org/12607/ucr-students-prot...

Not sure what your end game is. However, while school is still in session, come out in the evening one night and drive through the neighborhood. You'll get a sense of what's going on because if there are a lot of students in the neighborhood, you'll be able to tell by the number of cars on the street. 

See you tonight! 

Now THAT is a good strategy I have not heard! Love the google alerts idea. I can't believe the judge fined that much. Wow. 

We're not regulated by the SEC so I'm not 100% positive of all the rules. If it's money from family or friends, that's different than pooling funds. Regardless, if you go down that path, definitely meet with a Texas attorney that really knows real estate and lending.