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Updated almost 9 years ago,
New Member in Bakersfield CA
Hello everyone!
I wanted to introduce myself, my name is Matt Owen and I'm looking to invest in Bakersfield CA. I've been here for about 3 years and I work in oil and gas. I have been looking on the forums and listening to podcasts on the commute to work for about a month now. I'm actively looking for properties and am most interested in buy and hold strategy. Maybe a flip and hold if I can find the right deal.
I'm struggling to find deals that provide a cap rate over ~7% here in Bakersfield. The few I have found are multifamilys either downtown or on the east side. I am relatively new to the area and I have trouble knowing what areas are good and bad. I need to do more driving around I guess but if there are some Bakersfield locals on here I could use some help with that. I feel like the areas will be Class B-C tenants. Everything on the west side (class A) seems to have a ~0.6% rent to price ratio and a fairly negative cash flow. Although I am looking to buy a primary residence on this side of town to rent out some rooms and househack to lower my current rent payment.
I also have some trouble estimating expenses. I built out a spreadsheet that accounts for maintenance and property management and taxes but I don't know how accurate it is. For most of the analysis I've done my expense/rent ratio ends up around ~45%. I'll make another post in the deal analysis forum for some more In depth analysis of the actual property and some feedback on how I can firm up the numbers.
I feel like the other area lacking is how to firm up the Comps for rent in an apartment in that part of town. I went on Zillow and Trulia and the ranges seemed fairly large. So if $50 a unit can make a big difference in the cash flow on a 5-7 unit, how do I ensure I have it right or that I get into a place that I could hopefully force appreciation by bringing the rents up? Just experience looking at places?
Lastly I am feeling challenged is with finding deals. I have been using the MLS so far or RedFin since I'm meeting with a few realtors this week. However everything seems a little tight on the numbers. I want to start looking for off market deals and I'm just starting to research that but if someone has some links to good forum posts on the subject or some tips to get started I would appreciate it.
Again, look for another post from me in the deals forum because I could use everyone's help as I continue to learn!
Thanks for the assistance and I look forward to getting to know you all,
Matt