All Forum Posts by: Karen Margrave
Karen Margrave has started 402 posts and replied 6702 times.
Post: Impact of War with Ukraine on U.S. Real Estate
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Political policies 100% affect the real estate market and to pretend they don't is foolishness. The truth is, America is divided on what we think policies should be. Energy costs are a HUGE factor on all costs, both for new construction and remodeling. The supply chain costs along with energy prices have already caused materials costs to double and in some areas triple normal costs. Without massive numbers of homes coming on to the market, we fall farther and farther behind in curing our housing deficits.
With the current situation in Russia, will America continue buying Russian energy and financing the Russian war, or export natural gas to Europe and open up the pipelines in America increasing oil production in the U.S. and pushing down costs?
Like it or not, the politics of oil is driving the train for real estate costs. As to what Russias war will do to anything, we have no idea, it depends on how far he is willing to take it. Shutting down major power grids in the U.S. could kill tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people, crashing the banking system could be devastating. Depending on tyrants to act rationally is insanity, and we should be as independent from other countries as possible.
Post: REDDING - SHASTA COUNTY MEETUP - MARCH 24, 2022
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Please join us for a Biggerpockets Meetup! Let's discuss the current market, opportunities available, etc. Are you looking for properties? What types? Have properties you want to sell, rent? Need funding, partners, or ?
PLEASE TAG any other members you know in the area that you think might be interested. I copied these from previous posts. Hope the links still work! Whether you're coming or not, please respond and let us know if you're still on BP!
Post: REDDING - SHASTA COUNTY CA MEETUP - FEBRUARY 17, 2022
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Ok 24th it is!
Post: Verifying Landlords ID..Is that normal
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Even viewing properties in person is not a protection. In Newport Beach someone got into a house, ran an ad on Craiglist, and had an Open House. They took "deposits" all day long, which in Newport Beach is a considerable amount. Needless to say, once the people realized they didn't actually rent the house, they were pretty upset!
I can understand with all the scams potential tenants wanting to verify a property owner. I wouldn't give anyone a copy of my license. If they want to verify who you are, set up an appointment. As you mentioned, the HOA should be confirmation enough.
Post: REDDING - SHASTA COUNTY CA MEETUP - FEBRUARY 17, 2022
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Jesse and Justin, glad you two made it! Cara we missed you.
The 3rd Thursday of March is actually St. Patricks Day, and there's 5 Thursdays in March, so do you want to keep it on St. Patricks Day or push it to 24th? I know people sometimes go out for St. Pattys Day, so don't want to interfere with plans. Feel free to text me 530-782-1800
Post: Need Realtor Advice: Feeling Discouraged Before I Start
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Misti you didn't say where you live, therefore; we cannot know what your local market is. Are homes for sale and for rent scarce? Is the local economy good? What type of loan will you get?
If money is tight you don't want to be far from where you are, because if something goes south you won't be able to get to the property to deal with it. If you can't afford a house on a lot, maybe there's opportunities for a manufactured home? A condo? What's the Airbnb business like in your area?
The devil is ALWAYS in the details. Doing a deal just to do a deal isn't good business. You want to find a deal that makes sense. Look at all the options. What CAN you do with what you have to work with?
Post: REDDING - SHASTA COUNTY CA MEETUP - FEBRUARY 17, 2022
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Just wanted to pop in and remind everyone of the Meetup! They've changed the format on Biggerpockets. Hopefully people are able to find the Meetups. Hope to see you this week.. THURSDAY, THE 17TH OF FEBRUARY ... Call or text me if you have questions. 530-782-1800
Post: Working with Investors
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
Quote from @Joe Villeneuve:
Originally posted by @Karen Margrave:
I disagree with Joe. Many homebuyers these days are looking at their homes as investments, not just a place to raise kids, live, etc. Some are looking for an extra unit they can Airbnb, or rent to students, etc.
Investors are looking at cash flow, or appreciation, ideally if they could get both it would be the perfect storm. Every market is different. In high dollar areas cash flow on LTR of SFR homes is difficult. The same home though may cash flow well as a STR. At the same time, if you're going to focus on STR properties you need to know the local regulations, because not every community allows STR. In CA on almost any lot you can now add additional units. On ADUs some areas will allow them to be rented as STR, others they're strictly LTR. If you're selling a house on a large lot to someone wanting to add an ADU, you'll need to know set backs, parking requirements, etc.
On the other hand, there are investors looking for "value add" units, where they can do work, increase rents, and values. Then there's people focusing on storage units, mobile home parks, and many other niches.
Whatever niche you want to get into, the foundation starts with knowing the product, and the regulations that follow it. Learn everything you can about whatever it is you're going to sell and know how it compares to others.
I will caution you many times when people ask if you're an agent that works with investors, what they're trying to find is an agent willing to spin their wheels, run a ton of comps, get estimates for them from contractors and then end up using someone else. Always make sure people are qualified buyers and have realistic expectations of the actual market in your area before putting any time into them.
What you wrote, just made my point.
That there's a difference in agents that deal with homeowners and investors? I don't think so.
I'm a Realtor, RE Developer, Licensed General Contractor, investor, and homeowner. In each of those roles there's overlapping areas when it comes to real estate, and a point of view that comes with each. For a new agent narrowly focusing on "investors" which is a relative term, can end up costing him a lot of commissions that he otherwise could get.
Post: REDDING - SHASTA COUNTY CA MEETUP - FEBRUARY 17, 2022
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
@Justin H. @Cara Murray @Jesse Penland We will be starting small once again ... and building the group back up. There are deals being done, it's just a little more challenging to find them. I will be starting to push to find more income properties to list.
I've been through many ups and downs in the market, and there's always opportunities, sometimes you have to think outside of the box, etc. It's fun to hear from others, I hope more people start coming.
Post: I've Received a golden egg and I am unsure where to take it.
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- Posts 7,641
- Votes 4,169
As Jay Hinrichs mentioned, it would be a good idea to do more research and understand financing terms etc. Remember that whoever is loaning you the money for the purchase is going to be securing that with a deed of trust and be in first position. That means getting a loan for the repairs you'll need to find someone willing to go in 2nd position. That is extremely difficult, especially with an inexperienced borrower, unless the deal is just such a smoking deal that there's so much money in it that nobody could possibly screw it up.
As for HML, the only way they make sense is if there's solid values, and you can get in and out quick. In the current market, with materials costs rising, interest rates ready to go up next month, etc. it's risky to be doing rehabs unless you can hold them and rent them if everything goes south.