What's GOOOOD? From Orange County!

[Darryl Lin]

What's up ya'll!  I'm Darryl from Orange County!  This forum appeared multiple times after searching on Google as a good point of reference and it seems to have more people engaged in this niche so I figured I might as well join haha.  

Just a little background on myself I grew up in Silicon Valley and went to school in Orange County studying Economics.  My parents wanted me to be an Engineer, but I switched to business.  Being resourceful, I always liked buying/selling things on Ebay, Craigslist, and various niche forums.  If I wanted something that was expensive retail, I didn't like paying full price.  So, I find ways to lower my cost basis by reselling or buying second hand.  That's where I fell in love with the secondary market.  

I ended up working in investments and financial planning for a few years after college until the market crashed and I was laid off.  It was a time I was still discovering myself so I backpacked around the world for a few years around SE Asia.  I learned so much about the world, mainly how spoiled and good we have it, but I also realized I had a passion for food/hospitality so ended up cooking for friends/family and a few small parties, and working at a restaurant.  It's still a passion, but I have a deep yearning to apply my business skills.  I'll sell anything: cars, limited release Nike shoes, sunglasses, mountain bikes, bike racks, concert tickets, etc.  Anything relevant to my hobbies and can easily flip.  

After a combination of saving, investing, hustling, careful spending, and finding the right real estate agent, I purchased my first live in house-hacked duplex in October 2016.  I live not only rent free but also generate income from the rent I'm able to charge and cover property taxes!  

I'll be lurking and poking my head in some threads here so watch out!  :D

[Darryl Lin]

What's up Danchrisandre?  

RE in OC is hot.  There's really not that much that's "cheap", or if it is, you'll find yourself in the ghetto.  I did have a hard time figuring out where I wanted to live.  After realizing that nothing was going to be cheap, I figured just building equity would be the next best.  Paying rent sucks.  

My analysis was simple: would I be able to charge enough rent to cover mortgage+HOA+property taxes each month? I was lucky to find this one property that had a bonus room above the garage, which I didn't even know existed. Breaking down the rents I could charge, added with comparable properties in the area, I knew mine was a ridiculous deal. Most 3BR/2BA were going for $7-800k, while this one was going for mid to high $500k's. The added bonus room I knew would be able to pull in an extra $1200-1400 so I knew I had to act fast! Strangely enough, there were very few offers on the place, if any. Most likely because it was still under remodel from the previous owner, who I found out was going to live there but ended up needing to sell quick to free up capital. With this all in mind, I just acted fast on a favorable situation.

In any case, yeah I'm looking elsewhere for investment properties.  I've been researching out of state for a little.  My best friend lives in Nashville and I've been hearing about more companies moving out there.  More "it's the next Silicon Valley" hearsay so I'm wondering if it's intrinsic value is factored in yet.