All Forum Posts by: Alex Ballesteros

I am currently in process of acquiring my first property in Compton, 2 bd 1 bath, 800 S.F with a 5000+ lot & 2 car detached garage. The property needs approx. $60K in repairs, so def in need of some remodeling, but it is in livable condition. I am planning on using an FHA loan and house hacking, and my plan was to first invest into an ADU garage conversion to start collecting rent money from that unit meanwhile living in the main house doing minor to mid level repairs myself (painting, flooring, etc.), and my lender provided these 2 programs to assist me with renovation. What are your guys' thoughts on using either of these programs? Any knowledge or experience would be helpful.

I am currently looking to purchase my first investment property & looking to do renovations & convert a 2 car detached garage into an ADU, and i have been researching what the best financing options would be & I came across the Homestyle Loan and wanted to know if any of you had experiences using this loan? If so, what are the pros & cons? Or if you simply have any information on this type of loan it would be a great help.

I am currently in the process of acquiring my first investment property with a 2 car detached garage in Compton, CA with an FHA loan, and my realtor actually mentioned something about an ADU grant program giving up to $40,000 per family, so i was wondering if anyone had any info or experiences, pros or cons, or simply anything on this topic? I am currently doing my own research but would love to hear first hand from you guys. If you have gone thru this application process, what lender did you go thru?

Also, if you have gone thru the process of converting a garage ADU if you could please let me know about your experience. How long did it take? Any obstacles? Cost? How much square footage? Etc. Anything helps, thanks in advance!

I am a new investor who is on track to buying my first investment property here in Compton, CA and my initial investment strategy was to have the main house as a long term rental property and house hack by converting the dethatched garage into an ADU which is where I would live in. After my analysis, the income from renting the main house would cover a little over 2/3 of my mortgage, but now I am thinking if it would be more beneficial of having the main house as a Short Term Rental, so I used the Airdna calculator on BP and the annual revenue would cover my mortgage & then some (earn profit on top of my mortgage).

First, what are your thoughts on doing STR vs LTR given my area?

Second, how accurate is the data on AIRDNA? I know this mostly depends on how well executed I set up the Airbnb.

I'd love to hear your guys' opinions & recommendations!

What tenant laws are you referring to? 

I asked my realtor his thoughts about 203K loans and he said that they are pretty costly and that sellers aren’t fans of them, but i didn’t exactly know what he meant by that.

Can anyone clearly explain what a 203K loan is, the requirements & why sellers aren’t a fan of these loans ? 

I am new to the real estate investing world & I would love to work for someone part time over the weekends to learn the ropes on real estate & the investing side of it if possible (underwriting deals, finding deals, etc). I work a full time job during the week, so i would only be able to work Saturdays and Sundays.

Does anyone know of an individual or company looking for a part time weekend assistant? I’m open to different positions.

I am currently reading  "The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs" by J. Scott and it is a great source of information but i believe the book was published in 2019, and a lot has changed since then especially increased prices of labor & materials, and Los Angeles is on the more expensive side of things.

Do you guys have any information sources or any tips on how to estimate rehab costs here in Los Angeles? Reaching out to local contractors is already on my to do list.

Im on the verge of purchasing my first investment property here in Los Angeles, and I will be applying for an FHA loan, rehab the house (mostly cosmetically) and maybe add an ADU if possible, and live there until i reach 20% on my mortgage, refinance out of the FHA into a conventional loan, and then look for my next deal & repeat this process over and over again.

My goal is to build my portfolio in this manner and buy at least 1 door every 2 years here in Los Angeles. I would like to see if anyone has any thoughts on this process, or recommendations any other strategies? Any insight or tips would be appreciated.

I have close to 95% of the income that i have saved over the years from working my W2 job tied up in my investment accounts. ROTH IRA, Simple IRA (thru employer), and in my personal brokerage account.

Obviously since the stock market has been terrible this year, all of my investment accounts are down by a drastic percentage of what they were back 2020-2021, and i am looking to purchase my first deal in the next coming year (out of state investment property, so i will  need to put 20-25% down payment)

I know it is probably a bad idea to pull out from those accounts while the market is down, but i am eager to start my real estate investing venture and i don't have much cash lying around.

I am aware that there are also penalties if you pull out early from retirement accounts.

Let me know your thoughts & how you would approach my situation.