All Forum Posts by: Andy Gross

@Ned Carey

Holy Guacamole! 2000 bids! Is that a normal year for you? I was looking at some stuff in the Station North area, but you are looking at broad swaths of the city. Does a small time guy like me have the ability to compete in today's market?

@Ned Carey

There are several revisions done to the Tax Sale list before the final list is out. When you do begin your research on target properties? It would seem that you might end up doing a lot of driving around only to have a property taken off the list before auction.

So how are things coming along? Also, which neighborhood are you in?

@Matthew Paul it was called Wigtown John Watch, and they had a running blog of pictures, license plates, etc. Schadenfreude, I suppose.

Be careful, though. You really don't want the drug dealers to know who the squeaky wheel is. I would ask to meet with police somewhere outside of your neighborhood. Cameras are a good idea, but you should pass the information along to the right people, such as the narcotics unit or the drug task force. Patrol officers aren't going to care about someone dealing out of a house. Narcotics cops would love to get good intel without having to do a long-term surveillance.

Also, if you notify the landlord and they fail to take steps to remediate, you may be able to sue them as a nuisance property, depending of course on local laws. The end result can be the property goes into receivership and ends up being sold at auction.

Instead of using your TSP, you may want to consider using brokerage account. Morgan Stanley will let you borrow against a mortgage account, whereas TSP makes you borrow from the account. In a brokerage account, you assets are still making money.

Second what @Ned Carey said. The city is horribly mismanaged, although the current mayor has made efforts to correct that. I remember reading a story a few years ago about how one city office building with four different city tenants had four separate cleaning crews coming through at night. The $1.5B sewer repair is just the tip of the iceberg. There is also the issue of the aging rail tunnels and mass transit system, including the Red Line to nowhere. Let's not forget about the school budget, which they can't seem to get right year after year. I disagree with Ned about it being a liberal thing, however. Good management isn't a conservative or liberal thing. Baltimore could be awesome with just a little better management.

@Michael Mazzella You are absolutely right, and I appreciate the encouraging words. Acknowledging that these may sound like excuses, my reasons for not getting into the game on Oahu are as follows:

1. I'm leaving Oahu in the Summer of 2016. I originally thought I was going to be here for two years, but that turned into four. Had I known then what I know now, I would have house-hacked or purchased a live-in flip. Now, I'm definitely leaving next summer. Not saying I won't be back, but our intent is to start our family in the Baltimore/DC area because that's where we are from. 

2. I'm short on capital.

3. I've got a full time job, and thus, limited time during the week.

I would love to do a ride-along, and, if you would be interested in meeting over coffee or beer, then let's do it. Let's talk offline. I had a thought last night, mainly, that I should be networking out here. Even if I don't get a deal under my belt whilst living in paradise, a connection out here may help me on the mainland. Down the road, I see myself doing small to midsize multifamily projects, and my dream would be to do ground-up development and adaptive reuse projects. At some point, I'll be looking for expertise and investors, and they might very well come from connections I make out here.

@Andrey Y. I feel your pain.

Honolulu is a hot market with a lot of foreign money coming in, and that foreign money seems to be hitting the MLS. I've noticed that the barrier to entry in Kailua has gone up as well, from 600's two years ago to high 700's now. I still think cash flow on rentals would be a bit tough, but if your numbers work on paper, that's cool as well. This market seems to be an appreciation/flipping game.

Personally, I've decided to wait until I can invest somewhere else, like Baltimore, where I'm from and where I intend on returning to. Lots of markets within a good drive, such as Richmond, Philly, etc. I don't have the access to cash to be making cash offers on $700k properties. Heck I don't even have the cash to pay the fee on an HML to purchase a 700k property.

@Michael Mazzella happy to hear about your success, but for us newer players, this island is priced out of our range. I would love to find a silent money partner, but as of now, I have no real track record to show. 

First, you need a scope of work, and decide on the level of finishes you want. Having multiple contractors do a walk through will yield massively differently results.

This guy sounds dillusional. He wants a $90k premium on a $110k house? Only if the 30lb in gold bricks in the basement conveys.....

My thoughts (and feel free to ignore them, I'm a newbie) is that you need to figure how much it costs to get the nearest comp into the same condition as his place, all while figuring out what an acceptable profit and risk is for you. At the same time, is his place "over-improved" for the neighborhood? If there are no $200k comps in the neighborhood, this guy might be a little crazy. You can't negotiate with crazy. 

But seriously, with that kind of difference, it sounds like it's tough. If you want to spend the time, meet him and go over comps and the benefit of signing a contract with you. If he doesn't like what you have to say, say "listen, it looks like it won't work out with what I have to offer, let me get you the names of a few Realtors who are well-respected/trusted/liked/hungry and who work with properties like this. It's likely going to take more time to sell, but you may be able to get a better offer." Then, walk away and call back in a few weeks.

Not speaking from experience in real estate because I haven't done any wholesaling, but this is my thought based on my negotiations as a lawyer. If there is too much of a gap between the parties, work on building trust, the ability to walk away, and circling back.