All Forum Posts by: Owen Schwaegerle

Dude, great find! That is a fixer for sure. Keep up the good work and let us know when you find another one!

Hello BP Community,

I am currently in the process of analyzing a deal in Orcutt, CA, not far from Santa Maria. It seems like an awesome opportunity, but I wanted to get some feedback and insight from some pros.

The property has 3 units on it. The first is a single family house that is 4 beds/3 bath, the second is 2 bed/2bath, and the third is a studio. The total monthly rent for the property would be $4700/mo: Currently $2100 for the main house, the owner lives in the 2 bed unit which would rent for $1500, and the studio is rented out for $1100. The lot is 25,000 SF, so there could be potential development opportunity.

The owner is an old school real estate investor that does everything himself. He is now looking to downsize and take it easy. The exciting part is he is willing to owner finance the property! He is extremely flexible on price and terms. One scenario he said he would do was to sell the property for $650K at 5-6% interest with 20% down. 

This sounds like a great deal to me, but when I started looking into it I discovered that the studio does not have a certificate of occupancy. The construction permits are for a "garage" which is technically unlivable. So isn't that illegal? Also, the property is zoned single family, so wouldn't putting 3 different families on that property be wrong?

This would be my first deal, so I don't want to break the law. Any insight you all can provide would be great!

@Cody Hahn, welcome to the neighborhood! Super excited to hear you're in the area looking to connect. I'd be happy to get together and share goals and see how we can help each other.

Hi Cordelia, I go to the REIA meeting and highly recommend it! Even though it is $20 to go, it is a place where you meet incredible people that are doing everything you are talking about doing. It can help you accelerate to achieve your goals even faster! I've made some great partners as friends through the Central Coast REIA. Hope to see you there someday!

Thank you to the two Kyles from Colorado! Do you two know each other?

@Kyle Doney The list was for absentee owners in the San Luis Obispo market. The ones that called were in pre-foreclosure. If the numbers don't make sense, it's on to the next one.

@Kyle Miller One guy is asking $195K, on the market, for a property in a subdivision where the average comps are running at $110K... I offered him $110K and am still waiting to hear back. Another lady has a property listed for $800K with a comp value of $1 mln. They need to sell quickly due to an impending auction this week.

Currently working a direct mail marketing campaign to whole sale my first deal.

What do you do when you have a direct mail marketing campaign and the leads that call back currently have the property listed on the market through an agent? I've sent out over 100 letters, and the two leads that have called back currently have their properties on the market. They have called to make a deal since they both need to sell quickly and are highly motivated. 

How can I get an "off-market" deal for wholesaling when it is on the market? 

Since there is an agent that has already listed the property won't they also need to be compensated? 

What should I do? Any advice is appreciated!

I wouldn't sell your home to buy a bigger one. I would find a way to keep the home as an LTR, then use some of your current equity through a HELOC or a home loan to help you get into the next home. Especially since you put down $185K, you have a huge amount of equity which you can draw on! Have you considered adding more units than just a granny unit in your next property?

B.S. in agribusiness from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, minored in political science. Had the honor of serving as the student body president while there too! Currently a financial analyst for the Real Estate Industries Group at Rabobank in Arroyo Grande, CA. I'm loving life on the Central Coast and am beginning to wholesale and planning to BRRRR in the near future. Best of luck all!

Hey Tim, great question! From the local REIA, what I've learned is a lot of people are flipping in Santa Maria. It's a town 40 minutes south of SLO, and it has a cheaper point of entry. The numbers make more sense down there than they do here in San Luis. I've also met a couple that are flipping a house in SLO. They had the capital to buy a house, but it was severely discounted because of fire and water damage. So yes, there are people doing it live and flipping here. If you come live here, you can totally go to the REIA, meet these people, then learn how they do what they do!