All Forum Posts by: Ray Johnson

I purchased a property from Bank of America, it’s located in the Northeast Washington DC area and right in the middle of a major gentrification zone of the “The Rhode Island Avenue Corridor”.

The “RIA DC” project is two blocks away, The project is a multi-phase 1,760 unit mixed use for Sale and for Rent product. Townhomes, Apartments, and Senior living, additionally there will be a grocery store and retail. The project begins next month in February 2018.

Did you see a decrease or increase in rental rates?

Did you see your existing property value increase or decrease once the new construction properties became available?

How long did it take before you saw the positive or negative impact to the gentrifying area once the projects were stabilized?

There has also been several other new construction projects that have come on line or scheduled to come on line within the next 12-24 months.

My property was built in 1963 and has been rehabbed several times with the latest rehabb taking place when I purchased it.

@Omid A. How much of the rehab was done for the $65K? This looks amazing, Did you do all the work? How long did it take you to turn out such a great product?

@Jozelle B. Ask the bank if they'd accept an Owner Occupant affidavit stating you will occupy the property as your primary residence for a minimum 12 months. With you being in the military it may not work since you can get orders to be stationed somewhere else in a few months but it may be worth a try. I also wanted to add that the underwriter also looks at household size versus property size. If you're single and trying to purchase a duplex that's going to work against you in this purchasing scenario.

@Aaron Xie Irvine has a few different areas that fall into the demographic you're interested in, Northwood isn't my favorite part of Irvine, I like the part of Irvine closer to the beach. When I'm done with my current work assignment in Washington DC I'll be moving back home to the Newport Beach/Irvine area. Northwood = 39% Asian Northwood Point = 54% Asian Lower Peter's Canyon = 47% Asian The areas on the other side of the 405 Freeway closer to the beach are: University Town Center = 45% Asian Shady Canyon = 41% Asian Quail Hill = 41% Asian

@Jasper Saberi since it's just a single unit you're referring to I think your monthly utility savings will be minimal unless the tenant has a really large family or has infants that will require a lot of laundry. I would focus on the cost of the appliances, look for appliances that have current rebates, are energy efficient, good sales price, etc...

@Richard Sherman @Asad Shaikh detailed his goals by dollar amounts and number of units, I noticed you outlined your goals by door count only, Is your goal more focused on door count or income (cash flow)? I often see guys referring to the door count not the dollar volume and wonder which is priority for most of these investors, Do you have minimum monthly cash flow on rentals or a minimum after tax net profit on sales?

@Cherish Delgado Based on your debt structure, this is not a good investment, thankfully appreciation in Orange County has bailed you out on this one. Since you can't refinance due to the unknown issues selling to take advantage of the equity works out in your favor. Were you trying to refinance and consolidate both loans into one loan?

@Eric H. I have a 2 bedroom one block over on Adams Street NE. Are you aware of the RIA DC project one block away in the other direction? The project is a multi-phase 1,760 unit mixed use for Sale and for Rent product. Townhomes, Apartments, Senior living, and Retail. Those yellows apartments you can see from Bryant street will start getting demolished in February. Not sure what your timeline is, I would plan your numbers accordingly to compete with New construction Condo and Townhomes. Take a look at the project details

@Daniel Jarvis Since you will be leasing Two units after purchase, the ( Owner Occupied unit and the AirBnB unit), there should be One months leasing cost for each if you're using Property Management, if self managed the numbers are ok, Also I didn't see if the current leases are long-term tenants or fairly new.

@John Bruccoliere This will depend on your state, In California where I'm originally from, a non-licensee can collect a "Referral or Finders fee" for the introduction.