All Forum Posts by: Alex Stewart

I have a tenant that moved into a small residential property of mine and even though we had rehabbed it, apparently we screwed up and didn’t get the proper permits pulled (honest mistake, whoops).

Subsequently, the city determined the home shouldn’t have been occupied until we went through the permitting process again and therefore we asked the tenant to leave the premises indefinitely.

After they left, we got a letter from an attorney the tenant retained demanding around $30k for pain and suffering, legal fees, moving costs, etc.

I took the advice of my attorney and we went to court over it, as they literally wouldn’t settle, and at the time,it seemed like $30k for a house for a $800 a month house was highway robbery at best.

This all started in 2017 believe it or not, and we are still no closer to having an actual day in court. Our case keeps getting punted or small conferences between the judge and attorneys happens to try and encourage settlement.

Again, to this day they will not settle and are demanding $30k plus additional fees now too.

This stupid case has given me endless heartburn over the years and I simply want to be done I think.

What should I do here?

@Remington Lyman

Do you have the list you could share with me by chance?

I have a few properties in an LLC that I've had for years. They cash flow well and don't have any mortgages attached to them. There should be about $2M in equity that I would like to tap into.

Does anyone know of a good lender in Columbus who will do a cash-out refi on these? I’m not sure what the landscape is like at present.

I have been investing in real estate since before it was cool like it is now. I did BRRR before that was even an acronym, and it's done very well for me and my family. Back in 2009 if you said you were investing in real estate, people would look at you like you were crazy. It is simply not like that anymore. Buy and Hold real estate is the cool asset strategy that everyone wants in on now.

I get asked by my friends regularly, or people early in their careers about what they should be doing right now with their money, and what real estate assets to buy.

Frankly, I tell them.....nothing.

When I was buying houses in 2009 it was clear you couldn’t lose, literally every bad thing you could imagine was priced in. Compare that to current times where I couldn’t realistically imagine less inventory, lower interest rates, or any other factor to be in the favor of strong real estate prices. Honestly, I don’t know what in this equation will change anytime soon, but I don’t feel that riches are to be made in this real estate climate compared to other times.

I literally tell folks now, “I’m glad you have some money to invest but it isn’t 2010 anymore and you need to find a way to get rich some other way.”

So where do I steer them? For now, the S&P500 index fund SPY.

If you don’t have the patience to park your capital in that, and it’s not sexy enough, you aren’t cut out for this game anyway.

I know this sounds terribly pessimistic and I certainly don’t think the sky is falling, but I can’t see how this story of asset prices in real estate goes dramatically higher from here.

Thoughts?

@TJ Watson

To be perfectly honest I have not ventured to San Diego yet but clearly I need to based on all of these great replies!

Here are the things I like most about each of the areas mentioned originally:

Henderson: No state income taxes, one of the realistically only 2 suburbs (there and summerlin) one can live in the LV area. Great mountain views of the strip compared to summerlin which is mostly flat. The views are the tie breaker between henderson and summerlin for me.

LA: We really like the pacific palisades area and other west LA neighborhoods like around cheviot hills. Access to a good airport is a big plus for my day job and these areas seem to have excellent appreication potential and feel like a utopia almost. Big downside is taxes.

OC: we love the newport beach area and are torn between pelican hill area and balboa. The drawbacks here are of course the taxes and for pelican hill, it is still above our price point (seems like you need closer to 6-8m) and there is no appreciation really it seems like since it isn’t landlocked. Balboa is great though but the homes are a little smaller than we’d like. (3000-4000sq ft is perfect). Taxes again are a pain point here though.

I hope that helps!

@Nabil Suleiman

Interesting... very smart! I will look into that!

@Nabil Suleiman

Thank you for this! To clarify, this would be a primary residence so rental income wouldn’t be a factor per se. As a real estate investor it’s hard to not think about things like appreciation even for a personal asset which is why I’m torn between these different cities.....

I am a real estate investor interested in LA, OC, and even Henderson, NV. I know this sounds like quite the variance but there are elements of all these cities that my family really enjoys. I have never bought a home in any of these cities and have just visited them many times due to my work. I need the help of anyone with intimate knowledge of these areas to determine which pocket should (hopefully) be the best long-term investment.

Currently my situation is this, we have been very blessed and are able to afford a very nice home in any of these areas (up to 4M). Here are the things we feel are a priority:

1. Long term appreciation

2. Walkability

3. Nice modern construction (possibly even a new build)

4. Close proximity to a cute uptown

5. Space

What pockets within these cities do you think best fits the bill?

Thank you for any wisdom you have!

Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Gahanna, and surrounding. Good solid houses around 150k each in value.

I am a landlord in Columbus Ohio with 40 single family homes and duplexes. I am in need of a property manager to take care of these as I am too busy with my job to keep up with them. Any good property managers in town with availability?