All Forum Posts by: Wes Brand

Move to a cheaper location, then.

No investor is going to work with someone in your situation doing what you want to do. And if you find one who is, run away because they're a terrible investor. 

You're basically saying 'I want to live for free with the ability to walk away at any time because I won't lose anything' you need to offer a valuable trade to the investor. 

The only way you might be able to swing it is as a property manager for an established building. You won't own the building and the LL will still call the shots but you might be able to swing free/reduced rent in exchange for being a property manager, since they're required for buildings over a certain size in NYC if I remember my NYC laws right.

There were properties in Oakland that I looked at last year that would have the returns Saj is talking about. They were mostly in areas I didn't want to invest in because I was looking for property that holds most of its value even in a downturn, and Oakland falls harder and faster than SF, and recovers slower.

Also,

All of the things I mentioned in my post above were properties that I've actually seen on MLS in SF itself, I'm not just making it up as a 'well, maybe this is the case' kind of thing. Those opportunities actually exist.

If you're going to continue to live in Brooklyn work on getting a higher paying job and having more money to put down. 

A commercial loan will loan on the income from the property, but they're going to want you to have some skin in the game. 

@Diane G. you can still buy in A areas with A tenants, but you need to learn to see potential. A 1 bed that's really a 2 bed with a bit of work and permits, the house with terrible photos and a tough time getting in to see it, or, if you have the money, the apartment building with long term below market tenants that you can raise to market, etc. or even the place that isn't listed properly -- a 2400/mo HOA for a 1bed that was supposed to be 2400/yr.

There is more risk that 'you're wrong' this way than buying in another area, but other areas have risks as well; you're not going to escape from it.

SF is an appreciation market. You aren't going to find many deals that cashflow right off the bat here. You make your money via appreciation. Rent growth and capital growth are both relevant; if you need the cashflow today it's a terrible market, but if you plug in even a modest appreciation number of, say, 2%/yr in house prices you end up with an extra 20k/yr. 

And that number is unrealistically low for SF in any 10 year period.

(Note: I said not many, if you have the cash to buy in you can definitely make something cashflow at 100% financed if you get creative -- rent controlled multi family where you can get rents to market, or the type of renting you do, like mid-term corporate housing/short term vacation, etc)

You'll want to look at how much $ you're getting with it now, what kind of appreciation you're getting, and how much it costs you to hold on to it (mortgage - taxes - insurance - capex - vacancy? - PM fees). You've owned it long enough where you should have a handle vacancy and not need to estimate it. For capex include future repairs (new furnace, roof, etc) 

Tenants will complain about the heating vents/noise but as long as they're still paying rent, still moving in, and it's not breaking any local laws I don't see why you should care.

Interesting, just did some basic research and it seems like you're right, they're actually not very well correlated.

I like higher interest rates...means prices will be lower.

If they checked the 'yes rate is locked' box and for a time period that covers the loan time but didn't actually file the paperwork and you lost a deal it sounds like you have a pretty clear court case...

Sue them, maybe just in small claims, for the interest difference over the term between 3.5% and 5%, in my opinion.

@Steven W. Because you said the numbers did not work. You end up $13/mo positive at the end of the month. How long would it take you at $13/mo to make the 55k you can get today by selling it?

That changes if you add appreciation in, but I don't know your market or if you can expect to have properties appreciate, depreciate, or stay flat there.