All Forum Posts by: Sean Walton

How long has the $8500 to $9000/mo rental been a rental? You could possibly 1031 exchange it into another market that has better cash flow. Depends on your goals maximum cash flow or ease of management. 10 houses in 3 different markets might be more safe and diversified but more management and upkeep I say make your son earn a house in the Bay Area don't be basing your strategy on giving it to him. It will bias your decision and possibly lead to him not appreciating it.

Welcome to BP! I organized a happy hour meetup Monday the 19th. It is tough to find cashflow in the Bay Area right now but people are finding creative ways https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/452036-san-francisco-real-estate-happy-hour

Most states require you to be licensed. Do you have any experience wholesaling or rehabbing you need to know how to value properties very well. I'm sure Jay Hinrichs can weigh in

Originally posted by @Steve Vaughan:

A sweet triplex was for sale and I passed.  CB zoning so the county valued the land at about 40% of PP.  No thanks.  Condos interest me from a depreciation perspective.  No land value at all!

 I'm jumping back up the post a bit but in San Francisco the assess the land value for condos. Obviously our land values are a lot higher but even in a lower priced market condos usually own a percentage of the land correct?

@Andy A., @Eduardo Zepeda, @Brite Zhou, @Ryder Meehan, @Johnson H., @Alok Jain, @Samir Pathak, @Alex Chau, @Adam London, @Ori Skloot,  @Andrew Muff, @Account Closed, @Saikat Bhadra, @Matt Sanford, @Ralph Forde, @Katrina Razavi

@Liz F., @Joshua Ferrey, @Michael Knudsen, @Hunter Snyder, @Haseeb Awan, @Mark Pedroza. @Jason Tanseco , @Alvin Sun, @Calvin Lee, @David Kanter, @Chris V.,

I'm organizing another event Monday June 19th at 6:30 at Louie's bar again in SF. I hope you can all make it. I will give my rough analysis of the market and get all of your feedback

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/45...

Hi All,

    this will be the 3rd Happy Hour I'm creating. I'm thinking a little more formal this time. The first 30 minutes will be open networking. then 7pm to 7:30pm I will share some of my bay area market analysis and how I've been doing trying to find off market deals. Hopefully others can share their thought on the market as well. Then 7:30-8 or as late as people want to stay more open networking.

No pitching or selling of any type. 

Hi @Teri Feeney Styers,

    It varies state by state and sometimes city by city what types of structures need an architect by law to design. But it appears in Colorado that SFRs, duplexes, triplexes and quads generally do not. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-K5DhxXxJZbM3hkT...

Check with your local municipality some are more stringent.

If you do a lot of flips and have a good idea of what layouts, materials and finishes your market likes then maybe an architect isn't for you.

If you are new to the industry an architect can help you avoid costly mistakes. They also should provide you with a tight set of construction documents that your contract can't say "well that wasn't what we agreed to", because the drawings show legally what was agreed to when they bid the job.

For larger jobs they will make sure your building is up to code so it should be faster to get your building permit. A drafter probably isn't very familiar with the code especially when it comes to multi family properties.

let me know if you have any more questions or I missed something.

@Ben Valentin I think it depends on if you have a good day job that pays you well or if you are in real estate full time. I think there is value in finding properties that have some neglect which signals motivation but there is no way to know if the house has any equity. So if short sales are not part of your business model you may find a lot of motivated people but no way to help them.

Another thought: it contact your local first american title rep and ask for myfirstam it is pretty new so they may not have even heard of it. But it will allow you to find owner's mailing addresses. Even better you can circle a farm area and say show me all the owner occupied purchased before x date. Then knock on some of those doors while you are out there. You never know they might be looking to sell.

It's not @Chris Mason's territory but he has a reputation for solving problems.

3 weeks seems like plenty of time on single families but I understand commercial loans are more complicated. 

I would start reaching out to your friends and family as backup for the $500k just in case. Then refi after you close and pay them back with some interest.

@Brandon Smart I'm obviously a little biased but I would talk to a local architect. If you've never done ground up construction. They will help walk you through the process and also protect you from the contractor who may claim "well that wasn't what we agreed to". The drawings the architect produces are part of the contract you sign with the builder. 

There are more expenses you don't think about with flips or remodels. Utility hookups, school impact fees. I would try and find other people in your area who have done it. It sounds like it will be cheaper than buying an existing building but it isn't always.