All Forum Posts by: Alvin Uy

Im in a very very similar boat in SoCal.  But mine is not in beach area (more in the hillside in an upcoming neighborhood in Los Angeles county)... and its a house not a condo.     I originally planned on flipping mine...  but now contemplating keeping it.   I bought house and rehab “all cash” but want to cash out my capital investment (which is about 75% ltv)... but will be negative about $300+ per month since even the highest rent in the area is not enough to cover the mortgage

@Quiana Chandrasekar. This is why I started managing my own projects. GC’s are mostly project managers. Most are overrated. It was easier to find subcontractors. More work but i learned a lot. Now i can look at a property and can get pretty close to actual rehab costs.

That's always the biggest challenge when there's a lot of construction work / developments happening everywhere.   That said, when things slow down... (and i have a strong suspicion it likely will happen given the economic impact of covid), you will start to see GC's lining up to bid on your projects.  This is what happened after the last crash.

@Quiana Chandrasekar

If you’re not experienced enough to do rough estimates then its a great idea... but that’s if u can find one willing.

You can also bring them in later once your on contract and if you have an inspection contingency in place. What would be best is if you have a home inspector and GC there at that time so you have less chance of missing anything and have an idea of cost right away.

Ive survived the last crash, i’ve learned a lot since... but this is a totally different scenario that no one has ever experienced. Not even the most experienced of us  

In my opinion, there’s no telling where this market will really go.  Im sure you’ve heard it all by now.   The key to investing success in such volatile market is to make sure you really know your numbers in and out.... and that includes your liquidity should things turn for the worse.  Not saying not to invest.  But make sure you revisit and tighten your criteria.   Nothing wrong with not jumping in right away right now... i believe this merits a special circumstance... so no need to pressure yourself. 

Done

@Jay Hinrichs

Ive been buying! A lot of undervalued stocks that will only go up from here.

Not sure I agree with your comment about not needing warranty as long as its installed properly.  

You will want some kind of warranty for sure.  Not sure what “double lifetime warranty” means.   Ive had issues with poor quality windows within 2yrs where it leaked because of poorly sealed glass.... or gas between glass caused hazing, etc.   All of which were not caused by poor installation.  Best to go with known brands... I like Milgard.  They’ve been good with honoring warranty even accidental breakage.   I’ve recently just installed Plygem windows on a flip and looks to be pretty good quality windows.  


  

 Welcome to California!  LOL.   Higher valuation is always a good problem to have ... you just need to make some adjustments.  

How much did you cashout?  Why dont you leave some money in to cashflow on the rent?

Good job!!  Gratz on the instant equity!   I can only hope that your "aggressive negotiating tactics" was still a win-win for everyone (including the seller).   

That said, I just bought a new house in Los Angeles during the holidays... purchased it ALL CASH instead financing as the sellers needed to close asap. Original buyer fell out of escrow and sellers need to sell it asap.   I offered $651k with no contingencies and a 4-day closing.   Seller was happy to take the deal because she was moving  to  Oregon and was about lose another house she had in escrow over there.

I decided to get it appraised and surprisingly got $880 "as is".  So... a total of $229K gain off the bat ( minus closing fees, etc... ).   

Im putting an additional $85-100k back into it to bring it back to shape. ARV is around $950-$975. Likely going to flip this one though since its too far for me and my wife to manage.