All Forum Posts by: Sri Voodi

Bo, 

I would hold on to it and refi it for a 30 yr. Coz for me 8% appreciation does not justify the selling costs and taxes (Not your primary home anymore - 2 years in the last 5 years) that come up with the sale. from your question I see that you are not cash starved for buying MFH. So hold on. And finding outstanding tenants is as rare as finding a unicorn.  

Ryan, it is the way to go. I did something similar with my first property, but seller's agent was gracious enough to provide me a copy unlike your scenario. But back then, my agent recommended to get a new inspection nevertheless, which I did. And guess what, both the inspections reports were almost similar and I ended up wasting $500. And I never worked with that agent ever 

If you can get your hands on it, and are ok with the inspection report, don't bother about inspection contingency

Are you implying that you bought this house without getting a home inspection? I would hire a experienced home inspector to do the inspection and provide a report. Best left to Pros

 Creative - YES :)

Practical - NO :(

 LESS Effective?? - some of the most effective real estate techniques are NOT APPLICABLE to LA :)

 Jason, 

Congratulations. Go ahead and get this thing done. No matter what others tell you. IF NOT NOW THEN WHEN. I know it is risky and you are catering to a very few audience. If you can make a break even, I would think you made it great. The lessons learnt would be all worth it. As I always say - ALL IT TAKES IS A BUYER and you will find one. 

And don't cut corners on the quality, high end buyers are very picky and rightfully so. Being your first project, let the GC take care of the whole process. But your main role would be to document every little damn thing. After the completion of the project, if you read thru the documentation (excel - whatever) it should tell a story of how it started, all the twists and turns and how well or badly it ended. Now you a have a recipe of Do's and Dont's for your next project. My only concern is hard money and the holding costs - keep an eye on them

Good luck and keep the forum posted how things are moving periodically. YOU CAN DO IT

 Good luck with finding flat buildable land for sale in the valley. They just don't exist, even if they do, they are not for sale. And you are taking in +100k to 300K on mountain side lots, which have may be 30% buildable area

 Dylan, 

Scenario in LA is completely different when it comes to fixer upper. You would be lucky to get your hands on one with loan contingency. All the fixer uppers are scooped up by institutional (or cash) buyers for cash and usually more than the listing price, 6 month later you see the same house back on the market with a mark up of +200k. And trust me, it doesn't even stay in the market for more than 30 days

Mike, I have done the town home thing as well as SFH. My suggestion would be stay away from townhomes/Condo's if you can or as a matter of fact anything that has a HOA fees. It is a pain in the neck. And the HOA fees in LA are ridiculous and terms and conditions are daunting. No matter what, its always your fault not HOA

As far as buying, pull in that additional 100k from anywhere and buy a SFH as soon as you can. As someone mentioned (don't recall the name), it is going to be about 5 - 7 yrs by the time the prices flatten out (if ever they will). And I seriously doubt if there would anything like 2008 collapse - I just don't see it happening anymore, not in my life time - I'm 41

 Mike, how much is the rent around valley glen for a 2 bed/2 bath condo? My focus is mostly around woodland hills/west hills/northridge mainly due to schools. With your assurances, May be I should venture out towards Van Nuys/Valley Glen/NOHO