All Forum Posts by: Orion Walker

Age old question, but interesting thread/comments. So far I've chosen to stay local, because I've been able to find decent deals in my area and being just 2 hours north of San Francisco I figure I've got some good appreciation potential. But interesting comment on not trying to do both. I guess I think that's something interesting about my area that I can do both. But on the other hand, maybe instead of settling for 1% territory here I should be looking for 2% somewhere else. I think eventually I'll try some of both.

@Jay Hinrichs, you know the northern north bay area well and we've chatted a bit about the pros and cons. Any particular thoughts on this area versus out of state?  

And good luck to you @Ruben Parra, I think my main advice to you would be to jump in and give something a try as soon as you can. Catch the low interest rates, learn by doing...

Yeah, as @Aaron Hall  mentioned, I just bought a place with this loan. Just getting started on the renovation part, but so far I'm very happy about this loan option, and looking at doing more deals with it. The mortgage guy I used was new to it as well, and pretty excited about it. Seems many lenders recently added it to their options. 

We are doing this one owner occupy, so, purchase price of 200k, 20k (5% down) at closing, 65k renovation funds, appraised (after repairs) at 305k. 

Like I said, so far so good. I'll report back once we've completed the renovation process.

Hi @Kelly Krezek. Sounds like you are jumping right in. Cool. Hope the meet up event goes well. I'm a couple hours west of you over in the Mendo-Lake area. I've heard good things about Justin Lees at WJ Bradley in Roseville. Spoke to him a couple times on the phone. 

http://www.mywjb.com/justin-lees

Cheers.

@Daniel Burbol, I'd love too get your reading list compilation. On my goal list this year to read at least 20 re books. I believe you can upload it to the file space area. 

Good luck in Vegas. Big risks, big rewards, that would be my quick take. 

@Rob Randle, I believe an ideal loan option (that for some reason doesn't seem to be very well known) is the Fannie Mae Homestyle loan. It is similar to a 203k but isn't limited to owner occupy. I just closed on a place using this loan and so far I'm very happy with it and looking to do more. I've heard it can be a challenge to find lenders that do this loan, but I didn't have much trouble in my area.

I love this thread!! I stumbled onto BP about 6 months ago while researching whether I should get my RE license or not (I think I should, but have been too busy investing ;) I was in the middle of a remodel at the time and I started listening to the podcast episodes back to back and went through them all in about a month. There have been a lot of Aha moments. A big one for me was taking the step to reach out and meet up with a few BP folks in person, @Kathleen L. , @Nick Fitzpatrick . That helped make it real for me. Much like @Brie Schmidt , I’ve been having this homecoming type feeling where suddenly something that I was dabbling in feels like an actual calling.

Another big aha has been in seeing and hearing about the amazing successes that have happened for people. @Brie, @Brian Burke , @J. Martin , @Arlen Chou  and so many others. I think it is still just sinking in for me how much potential there is here.

The notion that super experienced successful investors would take the time to answer my questions, that has been a big aha. The realization that there are so many good people in an industry that gets a bad rap, that has been a big aha.

When I signed up for the November meet up in SF I was still a bit skeptical. I told a few friends and family what I was up to and they all rolled their eyes and expected I was headed off to some sales pitch brain washing session. I won’t say everyone at that meet up was a saint, there were a few folks doing and saying some things that I wouldn’t, but the vast majority were real genuine people with straightforward intentions and a ton of generosity. That was a big aha. And it was cool to meet @Brandon Turner and experience that weird thing where you feel like you know someone, but of course they don’t know you (you handle that gracefully Brandon).

I'll wrap up by saying that I think my current aha that I'm still wrestling with is the challenge of integrating the opportunity and inspiration of the BP community with the rest of my life/job/obligations. I feel like there's a ton more that I could be doing on BP, and by meeting and talking in person with BP connections, and in REI in general, but I'm trying to carefully balance that against everything else (he says as he types away at 3 in the morning ;)

Cheers.

Ahh, BP, good for so many things :) Good to know folks. I'll be replacing a toilet here shortly and I'll keep these recommendations in mind. Thanks.

@James Park, thanks for sharing this interesting info. Would you mind sharing where you are pulling this data from? census.gov I assume? Just curious so I can save a little time and go dig around and look at some things in more detail. Thanks.

Hi @Courtney Godoy, welcome aboard. Way to bounce back and keep swinging. Be sure to set up keyword alerts. There's a strong bay area community on here. I'm a couple hours north up 101 where the prices aren't so steep. 

Cheers.

Hey @Derrick Reyes, welcome aboard. I've been very impressed with this community as well. I highly recommend setting up keyword notifications so that you get updates when folks are talking about your area/interests etc.

I'm about 3 hours north of you up in what I call the northern north bay. 

Cheers