New To The Forum With a Few Questions

[Michael Peetz]

About Me

Hey everyone my name is Mike I am 32 Married and Live in San Diego CA..I have always wanted to own allot of real estate but just thought it was something out of reach for someone like me( middle class construction worker) I almost bought a second home a couple years ago after being pre approved for another traditional loan but never pursued a property due to the fear of being too in debt, man am I kicking my self now. So instead of pursuing multiple properties I decided to read book after book on investing i.e. index funds, actively managed, passively managed, small cap , large cap,international etc etc etc. Now I have not given up on that form of investing, I will continue to contribute to my lazy mans portfolio of index funds but I have decided that it will not be my main focus( research, analysis, crunching numbers) because at the end of the day I am a hands on guy that needs to be able to see , touch, smell what I am putting my time towards. I am very good at renovating(not a contractor though) and I want to use these youthful years I have towards working hard physically and mentally to achieve my goals . I want to work my way up to achieving multiple properties and eventually owning a apartment complex or 2 .And a SFH in a better neighbor hood for me and my family.

Finances/ Houses

 My wife and I purchased a duplex in 2008 at the bottom of the market for 217,500 since the purchase I have done a ton of work to this place and as all you know the market in CA is going nuts I can sell for around 500-525 and my balance on the 30 yr mortgage is only 182,000 with a 3.6% rate. I rent out the back unit(1 bed 1 bath) for 750 with rent going up to 900 by september. My wife and brother in law just sold their fathers house who passed away so we will be getting half which will be around 170,00 after all expenses paid.Single income home(wife is stay at home mom and a amazing interior designer and visionary for all my home improvement projects) 88k gross. 

My Initial Plan

1. Educate myself as much as possible in all aspects of real estate investing

2. Open a HELOC on my duplex( have it ready incase I need it in the next 10 years)

3. Get pre-approved for a loan

4. Look for multi unit properties that need work, hope to find one that will be good enough to pass fha so I can do a live in rehab with only 3.5 down then refinance.(if not I will have the helot and cash from father in laws house sale.

5. Repeat 

6. I want to stay in san diego or at least in the surrounding areas for now until I get more comfortable with making deals

What would you guys do in my situation just based off my finance situation. All answers welcome , I like to hear allot of different opinions maybe one will be different than the hurricane of ideas I have going through my head. Thanks in advance

[Dan H.]

What you describe is exactly what I would recommend: house hack duplex to quad, look for property with sweat equity possibility, purchase with as little money down as possible (owner financed, fha,va, etc).  

Ideally San Diego RE continues to appreciate and in a couple of years you can refi pulling out your investment money and reinvest it. If the market slows or falls the time span simply increases.  I have bought 2 times near market highs.  Both of those purchases seem like bargains today.  In 1992 I purchase sfr for $167k.  It fell to maybe $140k.  Today it is worth ~$550k.  In 2003 I purchased a sfr at $741k.  It fell to maybe $620k.  Today it is worth ~920k. So the San Diego RE market does fluctuate but long term it has always appreciated.  Traditionally it is one of the best appreciation markets in the country.  

Good luck