New member from Santa Rosa, CA

[Justin Hayman]

Good morning BP!

My name is Justin Hayman.  I've lived in the North Bay most of my life, currently living in Rohnert Park, but working in Santa Rosa.  Speaking of work - it's been a CRAZY 3 months for me.  As many of you likely know, we had some devastating wildfires here on October 8th.  I have been in hospitality my entire adult life, and am the General Manager of the Fountaingrove Inn, a full service hotel in Santa Rosa which unfortunately burned down in the fire, along with the Hilton next to us.  The owner of the hotel has kept me on the payroll, and I am currently handling the insurance claim, and, if all goes to plan, the rebuild.

In May of 2017, I bought a new construction home in the city I live in (Rohnert Park).  This development was the first build since the 1990's.  At the time, odd as it may seem, the new construction was priced very close to the median price point of homes 50 years old.  I jumped on it.  While the home has appreciated nearly 100k since my Memorial Day close, the chunky mortgage payment hurts!  That said, I've read and read (including @Brandon Turner's The book on investing in real estate with no and low money down) and quite few others.  After dumping in nearly all my cash to my home last year, I'll need to be innovative in financing.  Matter of fact, I started making calls to local banks on HELOCS this week.

The more I read, the more I want to stay in multi-family.  My goals in the early stage leans to small units, with apartment buildings being more of a longer term focus.  I've been picking the brain of the owner of my hotel, who owns several apartment buildings and quite a lot of commercial space.  He's encouraged me to gravitate toward commercial.  Perhaps that comes into play down the road.....but I need to crawl before I walk.

Thanks to Brandon and @Joshua Dorkin for both the podcast and this site.  In my 6 months of exposure to the podcast and short time here on BP, I've learned so much and appreciate the time and effort you guys put into it.

Looking forward to growing, learning, and working with the community!

--Justin Hayman

[Brian Burke]

Welcome to BP, @Justin Hayman.  If I look out my office window I see what's left of your hotel...very sad to see but encouraging to hear that the owner is looking to rebuild.  I figured at his age he'd probably bug out.  We got lucky here, the fire burned right up to the building but left the building intact.

Congrats on your K-section home, good thing you got in before the fire, I'll bet that sales and prices skyrocketed on October 9 and the weeks that followed.

Best of luck in accomplishing your goals!  BP is certainly the place to go for assistance, advice, and connections.