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Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2010 · 910 posts · 889 votes
Hi All,
Last few months we have had over 20+ BP members attend, chatting about investing in the San Jose area and also out of state. @Jay Y. suggested this meetup and I am helping him post it. We welcome anyone who would like to attend!
When: Friday, Sept 12, 2014, 7:00pm
Where:Whispers Cafe and Creperie (outside patio)
(The cafe is in the same complex as City Sports and in the same building as Five Guys on the opposite side of the building.)
1085 E Brokaw Rd Ste 10 San Jose, CA 95131
Looking forward to meeting new investors and seeing familiar faces.
Regards,
Johnson
Keywords:
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Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y
It was definitely another success meet-up for Johnson and Jay. Thank you for organizing it. It was nice meeting the new as well as familiar faces.
@Sam M. , congrats to you and your hubby. You guys got a steal on the deal.
@Marilynn Woodcock , good luck with your wholesaling endeavor. Just reach out if you ever need any help from any of us. Personally, I'll share what I know.
@Andrew Eaton , it was nice meeting and talking to you. You look younger in person compared to your profile photo.
@Troy Fisher , It was nice seeing you again in quite a while. Let's grab some lunch and exchange ideas. I'm available almost any day for lunch or coffee except weekends.
@Susan Gong , it's always nice to see you. Let's analyze that deal again. I still believe you can buy that piece of land for a much lower price.
@Kathryn M. , unfortunately, I have to agree with what J said even though you were only there briefly.
@Helen Chau , under promised and over delivered is my moto. I'm more than happy to share with you my spreadsheet on how I analyze deals.
@Yuliany W. , you looked fantastic. I thought you were dressed to kill. It was nice seeing you there.
@Kevin Auyong , I'd love to talk to you next time and learn about the process of doing due diligent for out of town investing.
@Kevin D. and @Ezra Nugroho , it was nice seeing you guys again. Sorry I couldn't stick around long enough to see the numbers on your deal. Can you email it to me Ezra? I just want to get a better understanding of these deals. Kevin, I'll let you know about the thing we talked about after I did my due diligence.
@Paul Cheung, hope you got the introductory email. Belinda said she will call you. Hope things will work out.
@J. Martin, my nephew told me this and it stuck in my mind. "when your bucket is full, you don't need to say much. Let individuals with empty bucket make all the sounds." I thought that was quite profound for a little kid.
What a bummer. I'll be out of town. Would love to attend my first BP Meetup soon!
Welcome to Biggerpockets. This is a great place to network and meet new friends. As the old saying goes, it's harder to make a friend than an enemy. Hope you can make it out to Johnson and Jay's meet-up next time. Have fun being out of town.
@Account Closed Does your great loan officer underwrites loans for out of state properties?
I don't know, but I can ask. Let me know the state and I will run it by him. If you want an introduction, I can do that too. However, I know he doesn't like working on loans less than $150k.
Again, full disclosure: I may get a free lunch from him, but absolutely no compensation. Well, a free lunch could be considered a compensation. Hmm....
@Kevin D. It's technically similar, except that typically you'd buy a seasoned note on a personally owned property. Let say someone buys a house with a seller financing with 20% down, at 7% loan 15 years amortization rate. That 80% seller's loan will be recorded as a lien on the property. Later on, say 10 years later the seller needs a lump-sum of cash, the seller can sell that note to some one else, let say you. So now the buyer will be paying the remaining monthly payment to you. Typically the seller will take less than the note's value to get the lump-sum. That way your yield is actually much higher than the original 7%.
If the buyer fails to pay; you, being the lien holder, can actually foreclose the property on the buyer. Although messy, you may end up getting a property for quite cheap. Still takes a bit of research to find good notes. Did you say you don't want any work at all?? :)
Actually, if Note's too hard, RIETs is too boring, but you absolutely have no time, maybe buying turnkey properties is the way to go.
If turnkey produces too little, then you gotta talk to Yoda :)
@Ezra Nugroho Notes sound fascinating.... except for the foreclosure part. I heard it could take up to 2 years or 10k cash for keys... but it's something to keep in mind if I feel adventurous. I agree that "Yoda" has been very helpful in my learning, as well as others who I spoke to in the previous meeting. Learning the pitfalls of investing was extremely valuable.
I did hard research on everything under the sun, especially turn keys. The funny thing is, I think I pissed off some turn key operators with the questions I asked. I'm sure it may work for some, but it wasn't for me. Purchasing C/D level rehabs where they put in 20k rehab and then turn around to sell it for 60k over their purchase price is great if the tenants are quality and the cash flow is true. I read some of these listings with "A- level neighborhood" that a quick Google search will tell me it's not even close. I actually had tickets purchased to fly to Atlanta next month, until I interviewed some of the property managers there. They charge one months' rent to find a tenant and then 10% per month so they can "manage" your property." And if I want to fire them, I have to pay them their 10% anyway until the end of the contract. Let's just say out of state makes sense if I live there or have a friend who can manage properties for me. Otherwise, I'm purchasing properties to line the pockets of others.
@Account Closed Your advice has been sage and I have decided that out of state investing is not for me. I agree that there is no such thing as passive out of state investing. Having crunched my numbers, property manager fees will absolutely destroy cash flow if I try to purchase properties in the "B" or "A" neighborhoods. The "C" and "D" properties come with its own set of problems.
I actually got qualified for properties in Atlanta. The rent covered PITI, but once I calculated in reserves and vacancy, plus property management fees, I would be breaking even or in the red. Plus, the fact that properties really do not appreciate and actually lose value due to inflation (and the fact that I do not know the neighborhoods), I nixed the idea. I think it's awesome that many here got it to work for them. It just wasn't for me once I put in the raw numbers.
I do have to thank you for turning me on to commercial properties and syndications though. I can evaluate it just like I evaluate stocks. I think I may have found my niche! =)
There are some publicly traded mortgage REITs paying 10% to 14% dividends. Some REITs are paying monthly and some is quarterly. Of course, they are not risk free and can be very volatile.
10% to 14% dividends? You have to share these REITS!
Investor · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2014 · 116 posts · 103 votes
12y
@Kevin D. The foreclosure part is your right as the lien holder. The key is to buy seasoned performing notes. If someone has been paying for 10 years, builds a lot of equity, what's the chances that s/he stops paying for the last 5. If that happens, you'd foreclose a property with fat equity. Lots of vetting in the beginning, but you don't have to deal with property management, evictions, and clogged toilets.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2010 · 910 posts · 889 votes
12y
@Kevin D. - NYMT is paying 13% dividend is a REIT I really like. AGNC is paying 11% and is a big dog in the mREIT industry. Like I said before, these REITs are highly interest rate sensitive.
You must be an accredited investor to invest in this project, and it is not mine.
DISCLAIMER I do not know much about, and am not endorsing this deal. I was just throwing it out there for other people because I met him at my meetup, and I know some investors are looking for something passive. For any accredited investors out there, you might want to check with @Brian Burke if he's accepting any new money for his flip fund. He has a great reputation, a rigorous system for identifying deals, and is an overall good guy. If I was qualified and looking for that type of investment, I would put my money with Brian, frankly.
Johnson is right regarding SF meetups. It's SO hard to find a good meetup spot in SF that can accommodate the crowd without $30/head being spent, and isn't too loud to talk.
Johnson, having said that, most people are getting off work, and are willing to buy dinner to make it work. It's logistically a PITA to do, but I charged $20/head for a prior meetup, telling everyone that I would spend the money on food/appetizers/drink. Then arranged with the restaurant to pay for it all. The financial risk is that you have to commit to a $XX/head when you make the reservation.
Some people don't like the upfront charge, and I agree I like to keep meetups free. But the connections and networking IMHO are more than worth any cost. And you get some food anyway. Just a thought...
@Jordan Thibodeau , I'm sure Johnson would be up for good restaurant suggestions in SJ that can hold everyone, quiet enough to hear, etc... Please make a recommendation if you have one. The food is not fantastic at Whispers, but seems acceptable to me. It is just so hard to find a place with great food and meets everything else needed. Being able to communicate is #1. Food is #2 in my mind. (And I am someone who LOVES great food!)
Harry's Hofbraugh In San Jose. When you enter the building and go to the left you will see long tables in the front that we can all meet at and they have a bar. You can speak to the manager to see if we can reserve those tables if not, we can get their early and camp.
Real Estate Investor · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2014 · 26 posts · 19 votes
12y
The location for Whispers is perfect for me. I'm there for the knowledge and not the food. Many are coming from SF so any further south would add 20-30 minutes to their commute.
Sorry I wasn't able to make it to the last meet up, I was out of the country! Will definitely attend this one.
Got a few local deals in the works as well to share...
I'm with @J. Martin , the current location works well for our group size, parking, etc. I would vote to keep it since the food is really secondary to why we're all there...
Harry's Hofbraugh In San Jose. When you enter the building and go to the left you will see long tables in the front that we can all meet at and they have a bar. You can speak to the manager to see if we can reserve those tables if not, we can get their early and camp.
I'm pretty sure another meetup group uses this place. I've found that being seated at tables without moveable seats creates a dynamic (or lack thereof..) where people tend to sit in one place and not be able to talk to more than 3-5 people around them, mostly because you tend to be in a line, rather than a circle. So it's difficult to mix and hear others further than a few feet.. Have you been to a 30 or so person networking meetup at the Hoffbrau before? (food sounds good to me!)
You'd be amazed how hard it is to find a great place that can accommodate all the goals. But I am an all-in vote for great food if you can find a place that fits that. Usually, to get a reserved, open area, with high-top table to mingle, and can hear w/ no music, there is a $20/head food minimum or so.. I've done it before, but takes more time to arrange, and a fixed price per head too.. I'm sure Johnson can vouch for this.. It's a real PITA!
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2010 · 910 posts · 889 votes
12y
@Jordan Thibodeau - Thanks for the suggestion. I think this place could work for a weekday meetup but not on a Friday night. A good restaurant gets packed and camping may upset the manager or other customers. The food at Whispers is okay, but the best part is that we can take up as little or as much space as we want and we haven't received any complaints there. I'll be working in Santa Clara for a few weeks in October, maybe me, you and your father can hang out at the hofbraugh for dinner one night!
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2010 · 910 posts · 889 votes
12y
@Joey Budka - The property got snatched up by another party the Wednesday after the meetup. I was close to having enough funds but not enough for me to feel comfortable to put an offer on the table. On to the next property!
@Troy Fisher - Friday nights work best for me since I live in San Francisco!
@James B. - I hope you can make it out and meet 20+ investors in the area!
@Account Closed and @J. Martin - Any interest in meeting at 4pm for this meetup? I am free.
Shouldn't be an issue. See you there at whatever time you want. :0)
If one of you can pick me up from the San Jose airport! I'm changing my flight in and out of San Diego due to a wedding up north before, and might as well fly straight into the meetup on my way back, instead of flying to OAK, then driving down during commute time.. Let me get a flight and see what time I can get back..
If it's after 12:30pm, I can pick you up. Just let me know when to be there and which airline. My guess with a high probability of being correct it's Southwest.