All Forum Posts by: Alexandru Guna

Quote from @Jeff Zimmerman:

@Alexandru Guna welcome to RE investing!  Getting started is by far the toughest part.  Fresno has always been good to me when it comes to cash flow, like everywhere else, deals don't grow on trees here but they can certainly be found.  The most important thing is that you find a city or region to invest in and learn about it, starting with the different neighborhoods, how the market works, etc...  Whether it be in LA, another place in CA, or somewhere else in the country.   What resources are you looking for?

 Thank you Jeff for responding to my post. Fresno is not an area that I'm interested in at the moment. 

Thank you so much for your input. 

Quote from @Mark Frattini:

Have you looked into the areas around San Bernardino, Lancaster & Bakersfield? I used to live in LA and would consider these areas if you are looking for opportunities outsidethe city. It's important to think about why these other areas a the less expensive
options and the risk associated to buying in a secondary type market

My market is San Diego now and we share a lot of similarities with Los Angeles. Very competitive, low inventory, expensive etc. You might be able to get started with a smaller house or a condo as your first investment.

 Hi Mark,

I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. I currently have some boots on the ground in the Riverside and Lancaster area, looking at properties.  Thank you so much for your suggestions. 

Quote from @Travis Beck:

Alexandru,

If you have any questions about Fresno and the surrounding areas, I’m happy to answer them. I invest in Fresno and live there, so very familiar with the market. 

 Thank you, Travis, I have considered it, but for now, it is not an area I'm interested in.  If things change, which has been quite a bit since I started to be interested in investment properties, I will contact you. 

Quote from @Dan Portka:

@Alexandru Guna Welcome to BP, you've come to the right place for help with real estate investing! I wouldn't focus too much on rent to price ratios here in LA, we're looking at sub 0.5% in most areas. Where we see most of our clients have success in socal is house hacking. Because owner occupant properties allow for low down payment, you can control a $1M property with say $50K down while having your mortgage subsidized by tenants (if you buy right it could be cheaper monthly than renting). Compared to non-owner occupant, you're looking at 20%+ down so $200K on that property (and you'll likely be cashflow negative unless you put a much larger down payment). If over the next few years your property increases in value to say $1.1M, you've tripled your equity in the house hack scenario as opposed to a 50% increase in equity on the straight investment scenario. If it interests you, I'm happy to help share how we analyze house hacks vs. other rental properties.

 Hi Dan, 

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.  I also appreciate the recommendation for the house hacking, but it doesn't quite fit with my lifestyle.  I wanted to invest money in a rental property because I wanted a hands-off approach and not to have to move from my primary residence.  After some more in-depth research, I do realize that you are right. If I plan to purchase an investment property in my area, I either need to elect another strategy or focus on another factor other than cash flow. However, I do not want to invest in a money pit with the hope that I will be able to capitalize on my investment at a future date after the property appreciates. Consequently, I decided to look further out for a property that makes sense for the type of passive investment that I'm looking for. Thank you once again for your conventional wisdom and advice.  Much appreciated

Quote from @Samuel Toma:

Hi Alexandru,

I am curious, is there a specific reason you would like to buy in the LA area? Are there factors that require you to buy in that area such as you want to manage it yourself or want to househack? I know your area a bit because I grew up in Orange County but now I live in an even more expensive area in northern CA, so I understand where you are coming from. Interestingly enough from the above comments, I have purchased two investment properties in the past couple years and one has been in Las Vegas and one in Fresno because it just did not make sense to buy in the area I lived in at the time.

If you are willing to invest out of your area, you may find it much easier to get into a property and the numbers look much better. But again, not sure if you would like to keep your investment in LA for a specific reason. Good luck!

 Hi Samuel, 

Thank you so much for your input.  The reason I wanted to buy in my area was that I wanted to manage the property myself. However, I realized I needed to look elsewhere and use a property manager to invest and be passive.  Thank you so much for the two locations' recommendations. 

Hi Hamp Lee,

Thank you so much for your prompt response.  I appreciated the book and the location recommendations.  I will do some additional recommendations on Bakersfield and Fresno and crunch the numbers to see how much of a viable solution is to look for an investment property out there.

Best of luck to you as well.

Hello Everyone,

I'm a newbie at real estate investing and have been looking for an excellent deal to purchase in the Los Angeles area. However, to no surprise to anyone, LA is a saturated and overpriced area.  After a few months of searching, I realized that finding a good deal is quite challenging. Therefore, I have decided to change strategy and focus on LA's outskirts. There are many factors that I was taking into consideration in my decision to purchase an investment property. Still, some of the factors I prioritized are the price-to-rent ratio and decent location with the potential for future appreciation in property value.   I started doing some research on my own and hit a wall. I wondered if anyone had any recommendations on a LA outskirts area with an excellent price-to-rent ratio and potential for future appreciation due to population growth and economic opportunities.  Also, I ran it by the agent I was working with and was not getting much help.  So other than finding another agent, I was wondering, even if there are no specific recommendations, maybe someone could guide me in the right direction or provide resources to further research I can do on my own.

Thank you, everyone, and I appreciate your input and am sorry for the longwinded question.