Investor in California

[Ryan Jenks]

I grew up in an atmosphere where my family had rentals and so now at 32 I currently have a house and duplex that I rent out here in California.  I think I will lean towards apartment complexes as my next purchase and maybe out of state as California can be quite expensive.  I look forward to networking with like minded people here on biggerpockets.com.

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Ryan Jenks:

Originally posted by @Ryan Jenks:

Originally posted by @David Faulkner:

You mentioned San Jose; are you referring to the historical rise in real estate being great in that area? I'm all ears to different perspectives as a newbie. My concern about San Jose (as an example) isn't the future demand, but as rent control sweeps over the entire bay area in the next 20 years, it seems that it would stifle appreciation. I bought lots of great stocks with great historical pasts when I was 16.... March of 2000! My teenage ego was wounded :). Just because San Jose has done well before, may not mean it will later.

Ryan,

At the age of 16, I'm really curious which brokerage did you open your stock account with? 

I believe @David Faulkner only used San Jose as a data point as it's much closer to you than he is. You're right that there's no guarantee that San Jose will do well in the future. The big gains are typically in emerging markets. How to identify those markets is another topic. Also, how long does one have to wait for those markets to emerge? Would East Palo Alto a good bet? How about San Bruno? Daly City? The location of these cities are terrific. When will they emerge? Your guess is as good as mine. 

With respect to rent control sweeps over the entire Bay Area in the next 20 years, can it be a good thing? As someone who has made millions in the current San Jose rent control market, I'll tell you that rent control is a great thing. Why? Because it keeps the competitions away.  :>)

I've talked to enough people to understand what the Oracle of Omaha said has a lot of merits. He said it's human nature to put obstacles in front of us. Everyone I talked to at meet-ups and REIA's KNOWS how rent control doesn't work. When asked have they read the 270 pages of the Rent Control Ordinance? ALL of THEM said NO. Shocking isn't it? They didn't read it, and they knew it doesn't work. :>)

I look at the Rent Control Ordinance like the Internal Revenue Code. It's full of loopholes in there. It's our job to comb through it and use the loopholes to our advantage. After all, we're real estate investors. We get paid handsomely to solve problems. Had someone told you IF you read the Rent Control Ordinance and actually understood it, you would make millions. Would you read it? In fact, how many times would you read it? If you had to spend a year to read it from front to back, back to front, would it still be worth it? The answer is hell yeah.  Then why would you discredit rent control as a bad thing before even understanding it?

If you want to join the 1%er, do what others don't and reap the rewards. Everything in our lives is a reflection of our choices. If we want a different result, don't you think we should make different choices?

Best of luck.