All Forum Posts by: Aaron Norris

City of Riverside for us has been pretty great. We did some presentations with them when the foreclosure stuff was happening. But, there's been some big change over and all new leadership is in place.  From the looks of it, it appears they are trying to make building more friendly. Would love to hear others weigh in.

Cash flow in Riverside is difficult. You might have to go out a little further into the county to find strong cash flow. Or, perhaps, you're going for a long-term investment and locking in really great rates with more upside long term in equity gains. I think Riverside is well poised in that direction. However, I'm not advocating you get rentals that are going to be a black hole. 

Check I Survived Real Estate on Google. Because of our conversation, I think you'd really like that video. Lots of input from multiple facets of the industry. 

I think you might be referring to the group formerly known as Nouveau Riche?  I forget what they are called now. Not the same as the group that meets at the Mission Inn. 

We base all of our decisions on data. If you're around California, I highly recommend attending one of the clubs where Bruce speaks. We always look at things like affordability, inventory, financing, new construction and a few other metrics. We look at this historically. Some areas like San Fran are way past their peak price in 2005/06 that got there because of financing. The crazy financing is not back in full force (yet), builders are not overproducing (build-as sold model currently), and the economy hasn't really fully recovered. In 2004/-2006, construction was a major driver. From what I'm seeing here in Riverside, it's just starting to get started. Where investors get deals has completely changed. Very little REOs and short sales.  But that's what California does. Who moved my cheese?!

@Arpan Patel we do nonrecourse loans here in California but @Dmitriy Fomichenko really brings up some really great points. We do lean conservative on loans in IRAs because we're qualifying the account, not you. And you always need to leave a good amount in the account to cover those uh-oh moments for repairs since 100% of repairs have to come out of the account. So I too wonder why you need the refi and just would love to see people be very conservative. While it a tax-deferred environment or tax-free in the case of a ROTH, it's really painful when mistakes are made.

@Hector Sapinoso This PDF is very old. The vast majority of this is now complete. PS, the City of Riverside also blew my mind this week. We had a two-lot piece of land that was entitled to be turned into 5 lots but triggered a ton improvements that didn't make sense for the project ROI. Long story short, the city put together a panel from someone in planning, housing, fire and the public works department. In 30 minutes, they bat around our ideas and we figured something out. I've not been through that process before but I hear in most cities, it's not that easy! I was very excited and impressed.

I worked in downtown LA at an architectural lighting design firm and got to bit on a ton of those residential projects in downtown LA and Orange County (Central Park West) in 2005. Residential foot traffic is so key to a vibrant downtown so I'm so happy to see so many residential density projects on the boards. Someone told me the city manager would like to see some 5,000 new residential units in downtown Riverside. Then again, I could be spreading vicious rumors. 

As far as where I invest in Riverside, I'd like to get more but haven't seen anything in a while that makes sense for cash flow. Some areas that might aren't the best neighborhoods and I'm really wanting to go long as I mentioned before. If I can lock in those permanent low-interest rates, I'd like them to be newer and in better areas. 

As far as commuting, I can't say exactly. I know this is short notice but Coldwell banker Town and Country have a forecast event coming this week on the 9th in Ontario. It features Bruce Norris, Christopher Thornberg and John Husing. Bruce (Dad) is best known for California real estate trends; Thornberg has a great local, state and global perspective; and Husing is best known for his demographics. There is a fee to attend (has nothing to do with us), but if you're serious about investing out here, it's very rare all three are on the same stage sharing their forecasts, perspectives and expectations for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and the Inland Empire at large. 

I think there are several opportunities in Riverside around Cal Baptist University and La Sierra University. Both faith-based schools that continue to grow. CBU, for instance, is building a stadium in the next few years. I already mentioned UCR and their med school and plan to hire close to 300 new professors as they appear to inch more towards a research school. I have no data if they plan to live in town or if they are commuting from other cities. And RCC, the local community college, is finishing another round of building including the very cool culinary arts school in downtown and a new admin building on the main campus. It's known for several of its programs like nursing and cosmetology. With all the growth and infrastructure improvements that have taken place over the last 7 years, I just feel very positive Riverside is in a really good place for growth. 

Definitely try to check out that forecasting event. Then, some weekend night, get tickets to something playing at the Fox Theater and do drinks at Mission Inn early and then do dinner at Mario's Place across the street. Whenever I bring people into town, they always say "Wow, who knew." 

Then again, maybe I should just keep my mouth shut! Investors, stay away!!! Have a good weekend.

You're a fellow Excel nerd @Hector Sapinoso . Glad I'm not the only one. It's actually one of the only reasons I ended up working with my Father. Who else is going to create his market timing reports with over 400 charts!!!? 

Yes, the Riverside Renaissance was funded by the bond issuance. They used to have a website dedicated to the entire endeavor but it looks like it's now down. However, I did find this PDF that talks about all the different projects that they worked on within the project. not sure how old it is:

https://www.riversideca.gov/pdf2/rivren.pdf

I wish they would have kept the old site up because this is pretty old and doesn't show the status of the projects. There are several private projects getting started in downtown to add density and there is a specific goal of turning downtown into an urban hub. more restaurants are popping up and the addition of more residential will be awesome. We have two new hotels going in and three new large residential projects going in (one going into the old Imperial Hardware spot on Main street which will be mixed use, one on Market Street which is a block and probably apartments, and a new project directly in front of the Fox Theater by Mark Rubin.) Can you tell I'm a Riverside nerd yet?  

Let me know when you're in town. We're actually very close to UCR and I can show you around. 

@John Alanis , from my experience, if you can find a good deal, people typically don't pass it up. If you feel you're weak in a specific area, you've got to work on it. I lean more towards rentals so don't consider myself a flipper in the least. Hard to find the hours in my day to take that on. So I don't personally handle huge renovations. if that's what you're taking on, you need to practice. Maybe hire a contractor for a day. Go to HomeDepot and bid out supplies. Real estate investing is one of those businesses where hussle can make up for a ton.  

@Hector Sapinoso you've never heard of PropertyRadar?! It's honestly hard to believe that data is so inexpensive to get these days. I think they have a free trail and I'm a big fan of Sean O'Toole (owner). I do invest in Riverside and the Inland Empire at large. If you look up a video podcast I do, last week I posted a rant because Fortune magazine listed Riverside as one of the top five potentially overinflated market. I explain in the video how well Riverside is positioned. Right before the bust, they did Riverside Renaissance. It was $2 billion in infrastructure projects in 5 years but about 30 years worth of projects. They renovates the Fox theater, the downtown core, did lots of underpasses, we are almost finished with a ton of freeway work, we have four universities that are all growing, we own our own utility...  I grew up here but left for New York City and Los Angeles for about a decade. I never thought I'd return but I did, and I love it. I'm very proud of my home town and how far it's come.  

As far as renting to students, just be careful as they've locked down ordinances because people were converting houses into mini-dorms. Check with the city to check what the code is. It has something to do with the amount of non-related individuals in the property and I believe there is a limit not just with that but people and bedrooms. I don't rent to students.  BUT, be aware that UCR is expanding a great deal. Lots of foreign students but they are also hiring something like 300 teachers in the next few years. The med school too at UCR is having their first graduating class. 

If you're in Riverside, stop by!  I'll give you some pointers. 

@Hector SapinosoYes, AOA is more focused on apartments. Don't know why I had in my head you were talking about multi-unit buildings. Craiglist is another good resource and PropertyRadar has some rental data I like to reference.