All Forum Posts by: Annalisa Brown

Hello BP community! 

My husband and I are FINALLY purchasing our first home! It's a single family home in Washington state, and we are in California. It's scheduled to close on 1/28/2020, and we are using a second-home conventional loan because we do not qualify for primary (we're employed in CA and will not be in the home within 60 days of closing, more like 100) and we don't have the capital to put down on an investment loan (we want that extra cash we have saved for the BRRRR, AND need proof of 6 months of payment saved up anyways).

It's an FSBO property and I've been in close contact with the seller for months now, she owns multiple properties in the area and I'd like to say we have a good business relationship at this point... But I'm aware that we're new at this and naive, so I'm being careful, too. She's a lawyer.

Here is the sticky situation:

There are tenants in the home, they've been there for 7 years and knew it was up for sale. We were hoping to be able to have them stay through April, being that we'd get to the area the beginning of May.... It could help us pay the mortgage and give them time to find a new home. They are on a month to month lease with the seller and it sounds rather informal. However, when the appraiser went to look at the home, she found out that there were tenants in there and now the underwriter wants them out BY CLOSING! We can't legally have any renters in there, the seller is thinking about doing a rent-back or lease-back but I don't quite understand it or know if it will work. 

Any advice??? Should we just give them the 30 day notice and extend escrow? Can we have them front 3 months rent to us so that they technically aren't "renters" after we close? Caaannnnn.... We do a lease back, and would that benefit the buyer or the seller more? HELP! I don't want to be fraudulent and I also don't want to make someone move ASAP.... But I also don't want a problem with inherited tenants after closing. My emotions tell me to let them stay but reason is what I need to work out here instead. 

Amazing!!! Definitely an inspiration. 

Hi, Phat! I'm looking to start investing in single family and small multifamily with the BRRRR method in Fresno. I know Fresno is very street by street and I'm looking for C class properties in B class areas to value-add. I live in Sequoia National Park and I'm from an hour north of Fresno.

@Max Gradowitz How do you feel about Fresno now? 

@Bryce Wong I have been looking in Fresno instead of Visalia, because it's bigger and more seems to be available. I haven't purchased anything yet or even interviewed any property managers or made offers. Classic analysis paralysis, here! I'll update this post if I do start to make some moves and purchase something. I'm not a real estate investor if I don't invest in real estate ;)

@Jeff Zimmerman, Thank you for such a simple breakdown! I spent hours last night just scanning Zillow and running numbers to get the hang of it and know which properties to consider and which ones to forget. It seems that many properties do pass the 1% rule (forget about finding 2% in the valley, it looks like), and the 50% rule. Looks like Fresno has so much more available than Clovis and they are actually affordable for me, so if I do this, I will be choosing Fresno. The only hitch I have remaining is that I would need a property manager because I will not be off the mountain enough, and I am NOT going to move to the valley, ever. So if I start, I'm going to stay on this mountain and when I move, I'm planning on keeping my properties and my property manager and moving either to Port Angeles, WA, or Big Bear, CA. So I won't ever take them over myself, and may never profit from anything I buy there... so why buy anything. I'm just getting antsy and want to jump in! 

@Kathryn MacGeraghty I could live in it and keep my job on the mountain, but I'd only be able to be home on the weekends and I'm hoping that doesn't count as fraud towards using the residential FHA loan. I only have 10k right now, but am making money every week and will have 15k saved by the end of Spring, 20-25 by the end of Summer. Being so young, making this much money with very little spent every month, and no debt, I think I can definitely handle any emergency situation, and your reply makes me feel better and more secure in my decision to buy here. I still am wondering if I should hold out for the PNW, where you are! But if I buy now, and seriously play my cards right, I could purchase a second property before the end of the year, and a third, fourth, MAYBE even fifth next year, and I can move to Port Angeles and hopefully find a good property manager here for these properties, then start again in/ near PA. Do you have any advice about rental investing in your area? Also, I will need a property manager once we move up there ;)

@Justin Yurong I grew up in Oakhurst, so I am more familiar with Fresno and Clovis. If I'm not mistaken, Clovis is the safer and cleaner city with better neighborhoods on average than Fresno.. right? I could live there easily. I first need to consult a loan officer/counselor to be sure that staying up on the mountain during my work week won't be too much time away from my "residential unit" to actually qualify for that residential FHA loan. Other than that, I guess the only real problem in where I invest is if I can't find tenants, which is all I'm worried about. Would you say, being an investor in that area, that finding tenants that qualify is fairly easy?

Hi guys! I live in Sequoia National Park, have a "fair" credit score (up from zero in a year with a secured loan as my only line of credit), 10k in savings, a wealth of knowledge, specific goals, and high risk tolerance. I am a server living in employee housing for just over $100/month, 2 hours away from both Fresno and Visalia, the closest major cities to me, with no cell phone service but dependable access to internet and a community landline phone using the lodge. I am 23 years old and want to be "able" to retire at 35 using multifamily buy and hold real estate, but I love working and being involved and hands on so I don't ever plan to stop, I just want to be able to step away from my business and travel the world throughout the year. My original plan was to save up about 50k ( I can save 10-20k a year where I am at) and my husband I have been planning to move to Port Angeles in Washington and I wanted to start my investment career there. but the more that I learn, the more I realize that I can buy a 4plex just down the mountain from me with a residential FHA loan with 3.5% down by the end of the summer, if not spring. I can choose either Clovis or Visalia, but I see much more for sale in Visalia and feel that it is more affordable. I can move in to one unit and keep my job up here earning this stable income, but I won't be there often and would probably need to hire a property manager, even though I originally wanted to wait until I can be hands on for the first year or two to learn the ropes firsthand before outsourcing and scaling up. Should I pull the trigger, or wait another couple years? Thank you for your time!

How can I find accurate information on the population growth, job growth and rental statistics in an area? How can I learn about the quality of life in a certain city or county as far as safety, how long people stay in their homes, whether or not the area is improving or declining?

 I always just google these things and find a small amount of information no matter how much I dig. 

 I'm looking at finally pulling the trigger and purchasing my first property - a duplex to house hack while I get my real estate license, contractors license, and generally learn how to manage a property and save up another substantial down payment and eventually scale up. I am looking to move to either Port Angeles in Washington or Big Bear in California and find a good market for small multifamily and single family buy and hold with the possibility of occasional flips to build capital. I'm willing to branch out into neighboring counties within reason. I'm used to driving 2 hours one way to simply get groceries.