Newbie from Fresno / Clovis California

[Ryan Yetter]

Hello BP,

My name is Ryan and I've been lingering on BP for a few weeks, trying to get the lay of the land and reading as much as I can (both on BP and books). While I am still learning the basics, I learn best by doing, so, I'm actively looking for a buy and hold, SFH, in the Clovis, Fresno, Hanford, or Lemoore area of California's Central Valley.

While I do own one rental home in the Central Valley, the property is rented to a business my wife owns and manages, (essentially the home is rented to myself) so there are no tenant issues; and thus I have virtually no experience as a landlord.

My short-term goals:

• Obtain a cash flowing, SFH in the Central Valley.
• Learn how to be a fair, efficient, and profitable landlord.

I have a demanding and fulfilling fulltime job that I enjoy. I’m not looking to leave my fulltime job, but instead would like to use real estate to generate additional income. While I am prepared and willing to dedicate as much time as is necessary to be successful in this endeavor, I am also not looking for a 2nd full time job. With that objective in mind, I’m looking towards “nicer” properties, in hopes of minimizing some of the issues that seem to come with lower income tenants/parts of town.

Over the last few weeks I've been crunching numbers on properties on the MLS, went and observed an auction at the courthouse, have been studying the amount rental homes have been renting for, and have been driving some of the neighborhoods I'm interested in buying in. All in an attempt to begin familiarizing myself with the local market.

That’s the short a sweet on me and what I’m doing here on BP. In addition to this post being an introduction, I also have a few questions for anyone that has knowledge of Central Valley Real Estate:

-The 2% rule of thumb seems a near impossibility in descent parts of Clovis or Fresno. Do you have a target rule of thumb for your local buy and hold purchases (ie. 1.2% or 1%, etc.)?

-Have you found a “sweet spot” that you like to shoot for in terms of home prices? For example: Houses over $250k are too expensive as the rental costs seem to price out most of the rental market and homes under $100k seem to attract high maintenance tenants?

-Does anyone have any recommendations on local banks that you have had a good experience working with on investment properties? I’d like to start a good relationship with a local bank, and specifically one loan officer at local bank.  I have a good chunk of cash available, but it likely won’t be enough to pay all cash (and I may want to stretch my cash out to cover more than one deal)?

Thanks for your time, and look forward to interacting with you all in the future.