All Forum Posts by: Sean Walton

Are you sure you are factoring in all the costs? Capital expenses, maintenance, insurance, vacancy. The new condo probably won't have much of these int eh beginning but toilets and drains still clog in new buildings. Washers break after a while. The 1920s house even if it is in good condition will have a lot more maintenance

I'm not sure from your post but it appears you may be buying for cash? If this is the case, yes you will cashflow, but would you get better cash on cash returns in another market? If you are financing a deal, in the bay area bought off the MLS with minimal work needed, it probably will not cashflow day one. If you've got a high paying job and you are buying in an area you think will appreciate then go ahead.

I'm not very familiar with the 203k loan other than it gives you money for repairs. For a tear-down, unless the land is worth at least as much if not 20% more than your loan I'm skeptical any bank, Hard money lender or anyone will loan against it especially if you have no track record.

I agree with @Jeff Burdick a tear down and new build is a lot to take on as your first deal.

I think real estate is a great vehicle to build wealth but unless they are very low interest rate, you may want to get your student loans under control first. Find a cheap rental farther from downtown get roommates, live frugally for a year. Do some freelance IT work so you have a cushion of cash because things will never go perfect with your rehabs you will probably go over budget and you don't want to lose all your hard work to foreclosure. 

Stanley Diaz wholesaling is all about prospecting so if you don't think you are good at that it will be an uphill battle. Maybe if you market to prospects with properties to flip but they don't fit your criteria you can list them or wholesale them?

I agree with Tim if you let your contractor know what level of finishes and fixtures you want they can give you a rough $/sf. I would guess $400/sf but could be a lot higher or a little lower depending

Jason Kaye welcome to BP. I grew up in Santa Cruz and I just had a Tacos Moreno burrito today while down visiting for Father's Day. Man I miss those burritos. I don't have the link but Ori Skloot has a great story about doing the BRRRR (buy renovate rent refi repeat) method in the Bay Area. With some hard work it is possible to cash flow in the Bay Area but it is tough while working a full time job you love. Check out the bigger pockets podcasts which have a good variety of strategies and see what appeals to you.

Check out the bigger pockets file place. It is a good idea to first real your local and state rental laws. Adjust the lease then have a real estate lawyer go over it. I'm in the middle of and highly recommend Landlording on Autopilot by mike butler. I think he also has free lease templates http://askmikebutler.com/llapfreeforms/

@Tiera Gloster first figure out which interests you. Right now it sounds like you are interested in 3 different aspects of real estate. Maybe you start with wholesaling to build up capital and learn how to source deals for later going to flipping or buy and hold. You need to determine that for yourself. I would listen to at least 100 BP podcasts and see which sectors interest you.

Try going to local real estate meetups if you are hungry to learn and willing to work for free at first someone should want to help. I might start with a small ask. "Can I buy you lunch and pick your brain and see how I can help you in your business". Then ask if they will hire or mentor you. Don't have will you be my mentor be the first or second thing out of your mouth

Is it an existing building or new ground up? 

Unfortunately, I don't know any architects in Maryland 

If it is ground up you can get a head start by getting a surveyor having a boundary and topography survey done. It would also help depending on how much you want to spend up front to locate utilities out in the street.

Hi Katrina double check all of this but my understanding of the airbnb law is that if it is a room in your house that you rent out there is no cap on the number of days you can have guests (hosted stay). If you legalize the in law or make the in law a 2nd unit then you would be capped at 90 days per year unless you rent for stays of 30 days or more. I think previously you said the in law is vacant but if there is or was an eviction be careful because the former tenant could have rights to return to the unit after renovation. 

As to what the best course of action is, it depends on how long you plan to stay there. I think keeping it as a "room in your house" to airbnb would be most profitable but the most work. You can set 4, 7 or 30 day minimums to reduce time spent on turnover. Or just set your cleaning fee higher to incentivize longer stays or cover all the cost of hiring somone to handle turnover. I would think a legal duplex would lead to higher resale down the road but it is unlikely your zoning will change to SFR in the future so you can always do that work before you sell.

Hope you can make it to the meetup I made on Monday the 19th at Louie's bar https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/45...

@Alvin Sun it is next Monday the 19th. It was a great game! Hoping next Monday Is a lot quieter.