All Forum Posts by: Ryan F.

Asking how much debt you are willing to have is like asking what your favorite color is. The answer depends for each person. How much can you live with and sleep well at night? More leverage (in general) implies more risk, so how much risk can you tolerate? My CPA told me a story of when he was much younger and actively acquiring rental properties. He said that at one point he suddenly realized he was a millionaire, because banks had lent him a total of $1 million. He was thrilled. 30 years later he's still buying properties and he still won't do it unless they're leveraged, even though he's got way more than enough cash to buy them outright. Another investor I know buys properties only with cash. She never wants to get a loan because that's what she's comfortable with. To me, these two examples show the two ends of the spectrum. Where are you on that spectrum?

@Tj Troup in general you want to cater to the local market demands. Call some property managers in the area to get a sense of what renters are looking for. Also try to find agents who generally work with helping renters and ask them how important are granite countertops, high end finishes, etc etc. Maybe look on local rental property postings to get a sense of what the market offers and be just a little bit better so your property looks more attractive. It's a balance of not going too cheap but not putting in way too many upgrades which won't necessarily get you more rent. Going really high end (if the market doesn't demand it) will likely reduce your ROI. Pick and choose what things you upgrade or not based on what renters are looking for.

For flooring, I recommend you consider vinyl plank. It's nicer than laminate, cheaper than hardwood, and has the same beautiful look and water resistance and most importantly wear resistance. It's a relatively newer product recently which is gaining popularity. 

@Jason Larson@Andrew Neal I agree with @Chris Mason that it could be legit to call the police since there may be local ordinances against noise after a certain time in the evening.

Alternatively it might be good to write a cordial letter to the owner explaining the situation. As a landlord I would appreciate it if a neighbor informed me that my tenants were really being a nuisance. 

Does the community have an HOA? The tenants could be violating HOA policy and someone from the management will be obligated to talk to the owner/landlord about the issues.

@Sheeva R.

Welcome to the Bay Area! If you're looking for a single family home on the peninsula, you might have some sticker shock depending on where you moved from. Generally the rent on a single family home will be less than your carrying costs (mortgage, insurance, taxes, maintenance, etc etc). Just the tax itself on a $1.5M property will be close to $1500 a month. Just make sure you run all your numbers realistically to make a good decision. 

It is extremely difficult to find a positive cash flow property on the peninsula. The east bay has more opportunities, and the numbers work better if you look even further east like out to Tracy. The Bay Area is the place to buy for appreciation rather than cash flow. Given the prolonged and significant run up in prices here I would say it's more likely for the market to soften than to continue in this upward trend over the next few years. That's just purely a guess on my part. However if you're looking to buy a personal residence then my rule of thumb for the Bay Area is that any time is a good time to buy. It wasn't hit too hard in the worse recession in a generation and prices recovered quickly. You have the super strong tech economy here to thank for that. Unless tech turns south for some reason I would say you'd be in good shape over the long term. 

What brought you folks to the Bay Area? Tech jobs? :-)

@Paul B. Great advice. Thank you, Paul, for sharing your thought process. At the moment I'm basically tapped out of funds since I've been doing the SFH investing, so I probably won't be looking to participate as a passive investor. If I had learned of Brad earlier I might have taken a different path. I suppose it's a good time to sell so maybe I should be considering that options for a few properties that have appreciated well.

Do you know anyone who is currently taking Brad's personal coaching program (perhaps the sponsors of the deal you're currently investing in)? I'd like to get their thoughts on how valuable they have found that to be and if worth the investment? I'm expecting Brad's program to basically fast-track me into MF investing with the critical components of being able to tap his network and being associated with his reputation. Do you think these are reasonable expectations? Thanks again for your valuable insights.

@David Dachtera Thanks for your reply. Makes sense that maybe most attendees aren't going to follow through for one reason or another.

@Paul B. Thank you for the detailed post! I'm glad to hear you've joined the program and I appreciate you sharing your experiences here. Yeah, "only" 25 deals was a little tongue-in-cheek on my part. I understand that 25 deals worth over $300 million in one year is really incredible. What I liked most about your post are your insights on the breakdown of what his students end up doing. It makes a lot of sense that folks take different paths, most of which can be successful. It sounds like you've decided to go the Foundations route which is to be the passive investor, correct? What drew you to that route vs. being a sponsor and putting the deals together? I'm open to either, but at the moment I'm leaning towards being a sponsor since I've got over 10 SFH rentals (and maxed out traditional financing) and looking for higher returns on my money and time. I'm willing to put in a lot of work (while working my full time job), so hopefully Brad's program will suit me. What do you think?

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Brad to start the program and mentoring without attending the initial 2-day seminar? I missed the July seminar a couple weeks ago and I don't want to wait until November for the next one. His website doesn't provide any direct contact info as far as I can tell. Thanks so much. 

Thank you to all the folks who posted their experiences about having used Brad's training program. I'm convinced and want to join and ready to put in hard work. My only question is, it seems there are perhaps hundreds of people who attend his seminars each year (he's now charging $97 per person to attend), but why only 25 deals got purchased in 2015 across all his students? What happened to all the other folks? Thanks!

Glenn, thanks for your reminder to work harder and not settle for less. No excuses. RE investing is hard, but that's also what makes it exciting. I've done 4 deals in Texas this year and all are better than this Atlanta turnkey with positive equity from the start in addition to good cash flow. Can I do better? Definitely yes.

Jon, Joel, and all. Thanks so much for your great advice. I backed out of the turn-key deal. They weren't happy of course, but I was already in the hole for about $1000 doing due diligence including an inspection and a flight to the area to check out the house. If it doesn't make sense to buy the place then I shouldn't do it. Time to look for other options.