All Forum Posts by: Adam London

HI All. Found this thread while looking for cap rates. Anyone know what average cap rates are for Oakland?

Also, what is a good rule of thumb on a property to calculate operating expenses. Looking at a triplex listed at 875,000 Rental income is 45k/year. I ran the numbers and I would need to buy the place for closer to 650,000 to get any COCR with 25% down. Is this pretty standard in the Bay Area? Wondering how people are getting COCR's beyond appreciation. on the blog they talk about the 4 types of Income from Deals

1. Appreciation

2. Cash Returns

3. Amortization: Paying down Mortgage using Rents

4. Tax Shelter

Guessing #2 is not common in the bay :(

Count me in too. Just finished my first renovation and am looking for my next project. Probably in the east bay. Near SOMA sounds like a great location. 

I just did a 5 week remodel on a condo in the lake merritt area in Adam's point: Kitchen, Bathroom, hardwood, lighting/electrical, basic plumbing, etc

Contractor: Jorge Tobar  and Manuel Tobar 

They can basically do any odd jobs. Had them remove a few walls and reframe another one. They did my whole bathroom. Took it down to the studs and rebuilt it. They charged me $25/hr per worker. I would suggest negotiating for less per hour for unskilled labor. It started to add up somedays when they had 4 guys on site. Manuel and Jorge are worth the $25/hr but when they bring in other guys I would suggest paying them $15. I paid hourly because this was my first project and I wasn't able to put together a full list of all the work before the project started. While this probably cost me a little more in the end I preferred to work like this. I also sub contracted out some jobs. 

Kitchen: 

I did an ikea kitchen and used Traemand to design it. You call ikea, set up an appointment. for $200 they come in and take all the measurements and help you design a kitchen. If you end up buying an Ikea kitchen they give you the $199 towards the purchase of your kitchen. Ikea is running a 20% cash back program right now for purchases over $3,000. Ends April 9th. 

For the install Traemand offers to install the kitchen but I found their prices to be really high. I think they wanted $3000 to install my kitchen. I used furniture 365  Email Cindy. They charged me $1755 to put together and install the kitchen. I also ordered my counters from Ikea (Ceasar Stone). 

Electrical: Jon Merriman - Fairly priced. Fast working. Offers free quotes. 

DM me for contact info for any of the people mentioned. 

Thanks @Taye N. Apparently I don't need to do this for the shower head as i'm not really moving plumbing around. But if I were removing the tub and putting in a standing shower I would have to. The window thing I'm confused about. I'm just replacing the old aluminum sliding glass door and window and replacing them with vynl window. 

I want to remove the security bars over the window and and door but since my balcony can be reached with a simple jump up from the street I still think I should have some protection. Thinking of probably buying these sliding mesh doors by Meshtec I found. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Titan-Security-Surface-...

They are ridiculously expensive but will look so much better than the security bars. If anyone has any other ideas I'm all ears. 

I am in the final stages of closing on a condo in the Adam's Point Area. I did 4 walkthroughs with contractors this weekend and felt more and more confident with each meeting. I have so many questions for the community about rehabing in the east bay. The condo is 750 square feet with a big balcony. It needs a fair amount of work (Flooring, Full bathroom remodel, Full kitchen, New window in bedroom and new sliding glass doors). I reached out to my HOA (I know condos are annoying), and they mentioned that I need permits to move any plumbing (want to raise the showerhead), and permits if I want to change the windows. I did some research on the Oakland permit site and it is utterly confusing. Looks like it will take me several trips down there to get this done.

Does anyone have any advice on attaining permits for plumbing and new windows in the oakland area?

Thanks,

Adam

@Ben Mizes Congrats! I am an out of state investor starting to look at St Louis. The prices are a lot better than California and the rents are somewhat comparable. Looking at SFRs, 2s and 4s. Any recommendations on areas to look into buying? @David Evans what should ben account for for vacancy if 8% isn't enough? According to this article 9.5% is around average in SL. http://stlouisrealestatenews.com/st-louis-missouri/st-louis-rental-property/

I've read that in Oakland you can do an owner move in once every 3 years yourself. Of course there are creative ways to do that especially if you have a partner. But you have to live in the unit for 1 year after at least. @Calvin Kwan I read that for units 3 or less if the owner moves in and there are no "protected tenants" meaning tenants with disabilities and such you can actually increase rents to market rates. I'm still learning about that option. If anyone else knows more about it please share or point to a previous post that does highlight this. 

Side note: I'm looking for a good contractor/handyman for kitchen, flooring, and bathroom updates and instalations in the Oakland area. Please DM me if you have any suggestions. Also looking for a RE Lawyer in the East bay for tenant laws and Owner Move Ins. 

Hi Cynthia,

I'm focusing on the Bay Area as well. I'd love to connect and hear about your flip experience and share some of my own insights on the Bay Area market. 

Welcome to BP

Leno, Did you end up buying? I'm also interested in the lake merit adams point area. Interested to hear your story especially since the continued to go up since your post.