All Forum Posts by: Tracy S.

Dear Agents - 

I'm looking for a real estate agent and I've spoken to three of you. I've spent a ton of time communicating my very specific intent and requirements in a property as an investor and each of you have simply put me on a drip. As a buyer, I don't want an MLS drip. I can use Redfin for that. I'm paying a massive commission so that you can interpret (and help me articulate) my needs and deliver a highly personalized set of potential properties with your thoughts on how each of them may or may not completely satisfy them. This is by far the biggest purchase of my life and I want to work with someone who listens to me.

You can't filter MLS listings for the subjective and long-term needs that I'm taking time to communicate to you; why even show me the MLS? Ideally I'd see a personal email or text with an individual property that seems to be a fit based on our discussions along with your feedback on it before I even consider looking at a property. You could save so much time simply by taking a minute to critically analyze whether or not a candidate property suits my needs before even dropping it on my radar. Instead, I feel like you're clicking a few buttons to delegate the search to me, hoping I'll fall in love with something and get you to facilitate the transaction. Totally ignoring the work that goes into the search. Every time I (tactfully) ask one of you to deliver a personalized experience that takes into account my "must haves", I'm dropped. I'm tired of spending hours of my time screening properties that are clearly not suitable.

Is this common behavior in the industry?  I'm a management consultant by trade so as a fellow "people service" professional, it's surprising how impersonal this process is feeling.  Should I be lowering my expectations as far as the scope of work that I should expect from a buyer's agent?  I'm experiencing a trend of impersonal service, missed commitments, fake enthusiasm... what a drag!

Thanks @Lee L. - so short-term rentals aren't subject to RSO.  Renting rooms out of a home I live in for more than 30 days - if I buy the home vacant, can I set the rents to market prices?

Oh and - by "all three cases" I mean in all three rental arrangements, across the provided zips.

Hi everyone - I'm looking at some 4BR SFH properties in the following zip codes:

• 90011
• 90033
• 90031

I'll be renting rooms out as either:

1. Short-term rentals on AirBnB
2. Month-to-month rentals on AirBnB
3. Leases - 6mos or 12mos via other channels

I'd like to live in one of the rooms and rent the others (the property will be my primary residence).  Does anyone know how exactly rent control currently impacts the above three arrangements?  I've seen some older threads but I know things are changing quickly in Los Angeles.  I want to be 100% compliant with the law in all three cases and am looking for guidance.  If you don't know the answer but know how I can find it, I'm listening!  The properties will be delivered vacant in case it matters.

Another question - aside from rent control, what are the current legal requirements (licensing, registration, approvals, other requirements) for the above three scenarios?  Again - I've seen multiple conflicting or outdated guides here and would love to learn from someone who's current on the state of affairs in Los Angeles if possible.  Thanks all.

Thank you @Bill S. - this is very helpful.  I'll do that.  

@Bill S. - I'm likely going to be putting closer to 5% down.  I'm planning on renting the rooms fully furnished with higher quality amenities; I'm seeing this more as a hospitality business than a strict rental investment.  Hopefully that will allow me to command higher rates (though at a higher upfront and ongoing cost).  Thank you for the information.

@Account Closed - I've been targeting $400-450k.  I've been living in this sort of situation for the past year, jumping from one location to another to get a feel for what works vs what doesn't work.  I don't mind the level of privacy that a basement provides, especially if I can find one with a walk-out.

I'm definitely making it difficult for my agent - favorable parking is on my long list of requirements. My initial thought was to book month-to-month on AirBnB to avoid the STR requirements; do you know if this will allow me to list multiple rooms at the same time and avoid the requirement to become licensed? Ideally tenants would all join via AirBnB and then - assuming a favorable dynamic and intent to stay long-term - I would offer 3, 6, or 12-month leases with deposits and everything.

RE Comps - I'm looking at "private bedrooms" on all kinds of sources, including AirBnB and Craigslist.  What other resources would you recommend evaluating?  Thanks so much for the discussion and advice.  

@Chris Lopez thank you - I just finished listening and have some great notes.  Very informative podcast.

@Jennifer Slaughter - I'm thinking roommates.  I enjoy the hospitality aspects and would feel better with more overhead but in-house presence to keep a close eye on the property (and take advantage of conventional non-investment financing).  RE zoning - I'll add this to my property profile that my agent is using.  Thank you very much for the heads up.  Call 10 hosts - that's an awesome idea; I appreciate it.  Thank you for taking the time to help me. 

@Carol Kotchek thank you!  I think I need a little luck :).

Thank you very much @Kevin Grinstead - I'll add duplexes to my target profile (I originally was only targeting SFHs).

@Carol Kotchek - It might be optimistic.  I've contacted a small sample of landlords across various neighborhoods via AirBnB and Craigslist to get a feel for the rental demand - everyone says it's no problem filling rooms, it's just tough to find quality tenants.  I'd be able to afford this with 100% vacancy, and these calculations take into account renting 80% of available rooms (I hope to rent 100%).  Do you think you would be able to get away with charging $900 including utilities?

@Chris Lopez thank you very much!  I like the idea of AirBnB; I don't mind the additional overhead there.  How would you go about evaluating this type of "rent demand" in a particular neighborhood?  I'll be moving to Denver (via an AirBnB) next week to start looking around.

@Kevin Grinstead thanks for the sanity check. My list of requirements includes concealed parking that can fit 5 vehicles and no HOA - I think I'll also introduce myself to the neighbors to get a feel for the overall personality of the neighborhood before buying. I hope this mitigates a lot of that risk. Can you explain what you mean by "leveraging rent into your next purchase"?

@Account Closed yes sir.  Thank you for the tips; I hope it won't be too difficult to find a place that has semi-concealed parking.  I just looked into sober living houses; very interesting.  My initial reaction is that it looks like way more overhead than what I'm prepared for... (and the thought of relapsed tenants scares me).  I'll keep reading.

Thank you all!

Hi all!  I've been reading up on BiggerPockets and I'm very interested in investing in real estate, specifically within the Denver area.  

My goal is buy/hold/cashflow to eventually be able to REI full-time. My plan is to find a nice SFH with 5+ rooms, 2+ bathrooms and a basement. I often work from home and I'd like to live in the basement as the on-site property manager, so to speak. I would then install locks on the bedroom doors and rent them either by the month or with 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month lease options. With $30k available for a down payment (and a bit of buffer for other expenses) and excellent credit, I'm looking to finance conventionally with ~5-10% down. This will be my primary residence for at least 2 years (to get the cap gains exclusion if I decide to sell, which I don't now).

I'm wondering if my rough calculations are missing something here:

- Based on discussions with lenders for properties that match my profile, PITI comes in at ~$2200/mo. I pay more than this for rent right now, so I'm happy about that.

 - If I plan to keep 4 of the rooms rented at >$900/mo plus utilities (seems possible based on initial market research - calling landlords, monitoring craigslist, airbnb, etc), that means I'm at >$3600/mo.  That's $1k/mo in the positive.

 - Taking into account property taxes and maintenance, I'm looking at an estimated $8-10k/y in positive cash flow and no rent payment, where I could theoretically quit my job and manage rentals (though that's not what I intend).  

This means that I'll be building equity and living rent-free.  I might be painting a pretty picture for myself and I'm wondering if some of you more experienced members might provide a reality check in case I'm going about this the wrong way.  

RE occupancy limits - I'll be targeting properties with concealed-ish parking, no HOA, and rentals will be 1 month+. I also have high risk tolerance, though I'm open to learning from anyone here (including those who would strongly advise against this).

Thank you for your time!