All Forum Posts by: Andrew Wong

Originally posted by @J. Martin:

What a great idea J.

@Ben Leybovich

Rents at the moment have not been dropping, at least not in SF proper. While it is true that tech is popping up in other places around the country, I wouldn't call it an exodus out of SF. I believe the main effect out of tech popping up in other places, is that the rent in those places increases.

I am also of the opinion that Uber/Lyft will stay around for a while. Again, not every unicorn startup has an unsustainable business model. 

Also, as others have mentioned, tech doesn't make up an extremely large portion of the living population in the bay area, but it seems like people are not taking into consideration what a lack of tech jobs will lead to. Who is powering boutique coffee shops in the Mission? Who are the large majority of patrons on Castro St in Mountain View during happy hour? If you walk around those places around 6PM, you'll see most people with some kind of tech swag. Now imagine if they're gone because their startup failed, who will keep those stores up?

@Matt R., I think there's a lot more to the bay area tech than publicly traded companies compared to last time. Of course, not as many companies are IPOing like in the dot com, but there are a bunch of start ups in the area that have unsustainable business models that do not profit. 

What happens when VC funding slows down, which it has started to, or even dries up? 

@J. Martin, what do these graphs look like when you do this with rent prices (Are there rent indices?)

I know a good electrician that services Peninsula and South Bay.

This extends beyond realtors, but always always shop around. Always have a backup, because if you do find out you don't agree with the way they do business, or that they are screwing you over, you can drop them without panic and second thought.

@Parker Cox, are you looking for a GC or subs?

I would think the answer to this is "yes".

Speaking from buying a SFH perspective: why would I pay retail for a house that has a history of meth usage if I can pay retail for a house that doesn't?

Good luck on your journey if you chose to embark on this though!

I'm interested in walking through houses with more seasoned investors. I've read a few books, and this weekend when I went on my first time to go through some houses with an agent, I was still floundering around about what to look for.

I'm looking for an investor that won't mind me coming along and looking at houses with them. I'm looking to learn about what I should be looking out for.

If anybody is walking through the house with an inspector, that'd be great too! 

I hope this request isn't too ridiculous. 

On my way to work, I was listening to NPR and they were talking about Richmond, CA. So... how is the place?

I went to school @ UC Berkeley, and for the most part we were told to not to go to Richmond, however this was a while back before SF had its extremely large tech boom. I've heard there's starting to be some spillover from SF in terms of people looking to rent. Can any investors attest to that?

I remember crime being bad in Richmond, and according to citydata and other crime maps, it still looks pretty bad. Any anecdotal evidence affirming this or evidence about how it's been getting better?

If anybody has any investors/buyers agent to recommend, I'd love to talk to someone!

Welcome! We have monthly meetups in Milpitas. Tune into http://www.meetup.com/SF-Bay-Area-Real-Estate-Investing-Club/!